DEBT Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5359 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance and to expand the availability of the student loan interest deduction. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. STIVERS (for himself, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. KATKO, Ms. SPANBERGER, and Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma) 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 expand the exclusion for employer-provided educational assist- ance and to expand the availability of the student loan interest deduction. 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 ‘‘Decreasing Employees 4 Burdensome Taxes from Student Loans Act of 2019’’ or 5 the ‘‘DEBT Act of 2019’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5359.IH H5359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5359 IH SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER PAYMENT OF QUALI- 1 FIED EDUCATION LOANS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal 3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at 4 the end of subparagraph (A), by redesignating subpara- 5 graph (B) as subparagraph (C), and by inserting after 6 subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 7 ‘‘(B) the payment by an employer, whether 8 paid to the employee or to a lender, of principal 9 or interest on any qualified education loan (as 10 defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by the 11 employee, and’’. 12 (b) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 13 221(e)(1) of such Code is amended by inserting before the 14 period at the end the following: ‘‘, or for any amount 15 which is excludable from gross income under section 16 127(c)(1)(B)’’. 17 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 18 this section shall apply to payments made by employers 19 after December 31, 2019. 20 SEC. 3. INCREASE IN MAXIMUM AMOUNT EXCLUDABLE 21 UNDER EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 22 GRAMS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The text of paragraph (2) of sec- 24 tion 127(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5359.IH H5359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5359 IH amended by striking ‘‘$5,250’’ both places it appears and 1 inserting ‘‘$10,000’’. 2 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading for 3 section 127(a)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 4 ‘‘$5,250 MAXIMUM’’ and inserting ‘‘MAXIMUM’’. 5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 6 this section shall apply to payments made by employers 7 after December 31, 2019. 8 SEC. 4. MODIFICATION OF DEDUCTION FOR INTEREST ON 9 EDUCATION LOANS. 10 (a) INCREASED MAXIMUM DEDUCTION.—Section 11 221(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend- 12 ed by striking ‘‘$2,500’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000’’. 13 (b) INCREASED INCOME LIMITATION.—Section 14 221(b)(2)(B)(ii) of such Code is amended by striking 15 ‘‘$15,000 ($30,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$85,000 ($115,000’’. 16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 17 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 18 December 31, 2019. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5359.IH H5359 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS