Title: Higher Education Loan Payments for Students and Parents Act
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Higher Education Loan Payments for Students and Parents Act or the HELP for Students and Parents Act
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance programs to exclude from the gross income of an employee: (1) employer payments of principal or interest on loans for higher education expenses incurred by an employee, and (2) any qualified dependent 529 contributions made by the employer. (Under current law, the maximum exclusion for educational assistance programs is $5,250 per year.)
A "qualified dependent 529 contribution" is any amount contributed by an employer to a qualified tuition program the designated beneficiary of which is an employee's child who: (1) has not attained the age of 19 at the time of the contribution, or (2) is a student who has not attained the age of 24 at the time of the contribution.
The bill also allows a business tax credit for employer-provided higher education assistance, including: (1) 50% of the student loan repayment expenditures of the taxpayer for the year, and (2) 50% of the qualified dependent 529 contributions made by the taxpayer for the year. The amount taken into account for each expenditure with respect to any employee for any taxable year may not exceed $5,250.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1656 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1656

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for 
  employers to establish student loan repayment programs and to make 
 contributions to qualified tuition programs on behalf of children of 
                               employees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 21, 2017

 Mr. Meehan (for himself, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Mr. Hurd, Mr. 
 Rodney Davis of Illinois, and Mr. Reichert) introduced the following 
      bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for 
  employers to establish student loan repayment programs and to make 
 contributions to qualified tuition programs on behalf of children of 
                               employees.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Higher Education Loan Payments for 
Students and Parents Act'' or the ``HELP for Students and Parents 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER PAYMENT OF QUALIFIED EDUCATION LOANS AND 
              CERTAIN QUALIFIED TUITION PLAN CONTRIBUTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (A), by 
redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (D), and by inserting 
after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(B) the payment by an employer of principal or 
                interest on any qualified education loan (as defined in 
                section 221(d)(1)) incurred by the employee,
                    ``(C) any qualified dependent 529 contributions (as 
                defined in section 45S(d)) made by the employer, and''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to payments made by employers after December 31, 2017.

SEC. 3. EMPLOYER PROVIDED HIGHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section:

``SEC. 45S. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HIGHER EDUCATION ASSISTANCE CREDIT.

    ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, the employer-
provided higher education assistance credit determined under this 
section for the taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of--
            ``(1) 50 percent of the student loan repayment expenditures 
        of the taxpayer for the taxable year, and
            ``(2) 50 percent of the qualified dependent 529 
        contributions made by the taxpayer for the taxable year.
    ``(b) Dollar Limitation.--The amount taken into account under each 
of paragraphs (1) and (2) with respect to any employee for any taxable 
year shall not exceed $5,250.
    ``(c) Student Loan Repayment Expenditure.--For purposes of this 
section, the term `student loan repayment expenditure' means any amount 
paid by an employer for principal or interest on any qualified 
education loan (as defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by an 
employee.
    ``(d) Qualified Dependent 529 Contribution.--For purposes of this 
section--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified dependent 529 
        contribution' means any amount contributed by an employer to a 
        qualified tuition program the designated beneficiary of which 
        is a qualifying child of an employee.
            ``(2) Qualifying child.--The term `qualifying child' means 
        a child who--
                    ``(A) has not attained the age of 19 at the time of 
                the contribution, or
                    ``(B) is a student who has not attained the age of 
                24 at the time of the contribution.
    ``(e) Special Rules.--
            ``(1) Self-employed individuals.--The term `employee' 
        includes for any year, an individual who is an employee within 
        the meaning of section 401(c)(1) (relating to self-employed 
        individuals).
            ``(2) Employer.--An individual who owns the entire interest 
        in an unincorporated trade or business shall be treated as his 
        own employer. A partnership shall be treated as the employer of 
        each partner who is an employee within the meaning of paragraph 
        (2).''.
    (b) Credit Part of General Business Credit.--Section 38(b) of such 
Code is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph (35), by 
striking the period at the end of paragraph (36) and inserting ``, 
plus'', and by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(37) the employer-provided higher education assistance 
        credit determined under section 45S.''.
    (c) Denial of Deduction.--Section 280C of such Code is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(j) Employer-Provided Higher Education Assistance Credit.--No 
deduction shall be allowed for that portion of the student loan 
repayment expenditures (as defined in section 45S(c)) and qualified 
dependent 529 contributions (as defined in section 45S(d)) otherwise 
allowable as a deduction for the taxable year which is equal to the 
amount of the credit determined for such taxable year under section 45S 
with respect to any such expenditures or contributions, as the case may 
be.''.
    (d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart D of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 45S. Employer-provided higher education assistance credit.''.
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
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