Storm Shelter Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1708 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a refundable tax credit for the installation of a storm shelter at a qualified residence. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 4, 2019 Mr. JONES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a refundable tax credit for the installation of a storm shelter at a qualified residence. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Storm Shelter Act of 4 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR STORM SHELTERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 7 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 8 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol- 9 lowing new section: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1708.IS S1708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1708 IS ‘‘SEC. 36A. STORM SHELTER CREDIT. 1 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in- 2 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 3 imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 4 equal to the lesser of— 5 ‘‘(1) the total amount of any expenditures made 6 by the taxpayer for a storm shelter which is for use 7 at a qualified residence and placed in service during 8 such taxable year, or 9 ‘‘(2) $2,500. 10 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 11 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED RESIDENCE.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 13 residence’ means a dwelling unit which is— 14 ‘‘(i) located in the United States, 15 ‘‘(ii) used as the principal residence 16 (as such term is used in section 121) of 17 the taxpayer, and 18 ‘‘(iii) valued at not greater than 19 $250,000 (as determined under subpara- 20 graph (B)). 21 ‘‘(B) VALUATION.—For purposes of sub- 22 paragraph (A)(iii), the value of a dwelling unit 23 shall be determined based upon the most recent 24 property tax assessment performed by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1708.IS S1708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1708 IS State, or local government or a political subdivi- 1 sion thereof, in which such unit is located. 2 ‘‘(2) STORM SHELTER.—The term ‘storm shel- 3 ter’ means a hardened structure which— 4 ‘‘(A) is designed to provide critical protec- 5 tion during extreme wind events, 6 ‘‘(B) is internally or externally located in 7 relation to the qualified residence, and 8 ‘‘(C) has been certified by an inspector em- 9 ployed or licensed by the State, or local govern- 10 ment or a political subdivision thereof, in which 11 the qualified residence is located as— 12 ‘‘(i) satisfying the requirements under 13 subparagraph (A), and 14 ‘‘(ii) having been constructed in com- 15 pliance with any applicable building code 16 requirements. 17 ‘‘(c) RELATED COSTS.—Expenditures incurred by 18 the taxpayer for— 19 ‘‘(1) any labor costs properly allocable to the 20 onsite preparation, assembly, or original installation 21 of the storm shelter, and 22 ‘‘(2) the certification described in subsection 23 (b)(2)(C), 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1708.IS S1708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1708 IS shall be taken into account for purposes of subsection 1 (a)(1). 2 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 4 an individual may not claim the credit allowed under 5 subsection (a) more than once. 6 ‘‘(2) JOINT RETURN.—In the case of a joint re- 7 turn, the taxpayer may claim the credit allowed 8 under subsection (a) unless the credit has previously 9 been allowed to each individual filing such return. 10 ‘‘(e) BASIS ADJUSTMENTS.—For purposes of this 11 subtitle, if a credit is allowed under this section for any 12 expenditure with respect to a storm shelter which is for 13 use at a qualified residence, the increase in the basis of 14 the qualified residence which would (but for this sub- 15 section) result from such expenditure shall be reduced by 16 the amount of the credit so allowed.’’. 17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 18 (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Rev- 19 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘36A,’’ 20 after ‘‘36,’’. 21 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 22 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 23 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec- 24 tion 36 the following new item: 25 ‘‘Sec. 36A. Storm shelter credit.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1708.IS S1708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1708 IS (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 1 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 2 the date of the enactment of this Act. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1708.IS S1708 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS