United States HR 4411: Upskilling and Retraining Assistance Act

Bill Text

I
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION H. R. 4411
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand and modify employer
educational assistance programs, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 13, 2021
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself and Mr. SMITH of Missouri) in-
troduced 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
and modify employer educational assistance programs,
and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Upskilling and Re-4
training Assistance Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN EXCLUSION FOR EDU-6
CATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 7
In the case of taxable years beginning after December 8
31, 2020, and before January 1, 2023, section 127(a)(2) 9
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4411.IH H4411pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS

2
•HR 4411 IH
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be applied by 1
substituting ‘‘$12,000’’ for ‘‘$5,250’’ each place it ap-2
pears. 3
SEC. 3. EXPENSES FOR EDUCATION-RELATED TOOLS AND 4
TECHNOLOGY. 5
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 127(c) 6
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik-7
ing ‘‘equipment’’ both places it appears in subparagraphs 8
(A) and (C) thereof and inserting ‘‘education-related tools 9
and technology and other equipment’’. 10
(b) EDUCATION-RELATED TOOLS AND TECH-11
NOLOGY.—Subsection (c) of section 127 of the Internal 12
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 13
the following new paragraph: 14
‘‘(8) EDUCATION-RELATED TOOLS AND TECH-15
NOLOGY.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 16
‘education-related tools and technology’ includes 17
any— 18
‘‘(A) hand tools and construction equip-19
ment, 20
‘‘(B) computer or peripheral equipment (as 21
defined in section 168(i)(2)(B)), 22
‘‘(C) computer software (as defined in sec-23
tion 197(e)(3)(B)), 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4411.IH H4411pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS

3
•HR 4411 IH
‘‘(D) internet access and related services 1
(including equipment or technology necessary 2
for internet access), 3
‘‘(E) internet, mobile, or virtual reality 4
learning tools and technology, 5
‘‘(F) licensure fees, materials, or other 6
equipment, and 7
‘‘(G) any other tools or technology as de-8
termined by the Secretary, 9
provided to an employee which is required for the 10
education of the employee or in connection with a 11
course of instruction for the employee, or is required 12
in order for the employee to obtain professional ad-13
vancement, to obtain any certification, licensure, or 14
employment under any State, regional or national 15
guidelines or regulations applicable to a trade or 16
other skilled profession, or to maintain such a cer-17
tification, licensure, or employment through a con-18
tinuing education program.’’. 19
(c) EMPLOYEE RETENTION OF EDUCATION-RE-20
LATED TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGY.—Paragraph (1) of sec-21
tion 127(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 22
amended by striking ‘‘completion of a course of instruc-23
tion,’’ and inserting ‘‘completion of a course of instruction 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:23 Jul 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4411.IH H4411pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS

4
•HR 4411 IH
(other than education-related tools and technology not de-1
scribed in paragraph (8)(D)),’’. 2
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 3
this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred on 4
or after the first day of the calendar quarter which in-5
cludes the date of the enactment of this Act. 6
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jul 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4411.IH H4411pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS