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Shown Here: Introduced in House (03/19/2009)
111th CONGRESS 1st Session
H. R. 1646
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a
credit against income tax for the purchase of hearing aids.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 19, 2009
Mrs. McCarthy of New
York (for herself, Mr.
Ehlers, Mr. Van Hollen,
Mr. Thompson of California,
Ms. Berkley,
Ms. Schwartz,
Mr. Larson of Connecticut,
Mr. Nunes,
Mr. Heller,
Mr. Roskam,
Ms. McCollum,
Mr. Wu, Mr. Paul, Mr.
Hinchey, Mr. Moore of
Kansas, Mr. Smith of New
Jersey, Mr. Walz,
Mr. Carson of Indiana,
Mr. Inslee,
Mr. Wittman,
Ms. Ros-Lehtinen,
Mr. Salazar,
Mr. Bishop of New York,
Mr. Gene Green of Texas,
Mr. Israel,
Mr. Price of North Carolina,
Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California,
Mr. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania,
Mr. Burton of Indiana,
Mr. Duncan,
Mr. Moran of Kansas,
Ms. Kaptur,
Ms. Eshoo,
Mr. Petri,
Mr. Rooney,
Mr. Minnick,
Mr. Carnahan, and
Mr. Altmire) 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 allow a
credit against income tax for the purchase of hearing aids.
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
“Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit
Act”.
SEC. 2. Credit for
hearing aids for seniors and dependents.
(a) In
general.—Subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
amended by inserting after section 25D the following new section:
“SEC. 25E. Credit for
hearing aids.
“(a) Allowance of
credit.—In the case of an individual, there shall be allowed as a
credit against the tax imposed by this chapter an amount equal to the amount
paid during the taxable year, not compensated by insurance or otherwise, by the
taxpayer for the purchase of any qualified hearing aid.
“(b) Qualified
hearing aid.—For purposes of this section, the term
‘qualified hearing aid’ means a hearing aid—
“(1) which is described
in section 874.3300 of title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, and is authorized
under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act for commercial distribution, and
“(2) which is intended
for use—
“(A) by the taxpayer,
but only if the taxpayer (or the spouse intending to use the hearing aid, in
the case of a joint return) is age 55 or older, or
“(B) by an individual
with respect to whom the taxpayer, for the taxable year, is allowed a deduction
under section 151(c) (relating to deduction for personal exemptions for
dependents).
“(c) Limitations.—
“(1) MAXIMUM
AMOUNT.—The amount allowed as
a credit under subsection (a) shall not exceed $500 per qualified hearing
aid.
“(2) LIMITATION BASED
ON MODIFIED GROSS INCOME.—
“(A) IN
GENERAL.—In the case of a
taxpayer whose modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 for any taxable
year, the amount allowed as a credit under subsection (a) for such taxable year
shall be zero.
“(B) MODIFIED
ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.—For
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘modified adjusted gross
income’ means the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable
year increased by any amount excluded from gross income under sections 911,
931, or 933.
“(d) Election once
every 5 years.—This section shall apply with respect to any
individual for any taxable year only if there is an election in effect with
respect to such individual (at such time and in such manner as the Secretary
may by regulations prescribe) to have this section apply for such taxable year.
An election to have this section apply with respect to any eligible individual
may not be made for any taxable year if such an election is in effect with
respect to such individual for any of the 4 taxable years preceding such
taxable year.
“(e) Denial of double
benefit.—No credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any
expense for which a deduction or credit is allowed under any other provision of
this
chapter.”.
(b) Clerical
amendment.—The table of sections for subpart A of part IV of
subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 25D the following new item:
“Sec. 25E. Credit for hearing
aids.”.
(h) Effective
date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable
years beginning after December 31, 2009.