Rent Relief Act of 2017

Rent Relief Act of 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for individuals who pay rent for a principal residence that exceeds 30% of the individual's gross income for the taxable year.

The amount of the credit ranges from 10% to 100% of the excess, depending on the gross income of the taxpayer. The credit is not available for taxpayers with gross income that exceeds $125,000. Rent that exceeds 150% of the fair market rent for the residence may not be taken into account for the purpose of determining the amount of the credit.

For individuals who reside in government-subsidized housing, the bill allows a credit equal to 1/12 of the rent paid by the taxpayer (and not subsidized under the program) during the year with respect to the residence.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3670 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3670

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow for a credit 
  against tax for rent paid on the personal residence of the taxpayer.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 1, 2017

 Mr. Crowley 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 for a credit 
  against tax for rent paid on the personal residence of the taxpayer.

    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 ``Rent Relief Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR RENT PAID FOR PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 
section 36B the following new section:

``SEC. 36C. RENT PAID FOR PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE CREDIT.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of an individual who leases the 
individual's principal residence (within the meaning of section 121) 
during the taxable year and who pays rent with respect to such 
residence in excess of 30 percent of the taxpayer's gross income for 
such taxable year, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this subtitle for such taxable year an amount equal to the 
applicable percentage of such excess.
    ``(b) Credit Limited by 150 Percent of Fair Market Rent.--Solely 
for purposes of determining the amount of the credit allowed under 
subsection (a) with respect to a residence for the taxable year, there 
shall not be taken into account rent in excess of an amount equal to 
150 percent of the fair market rent applicable to the residence 
involved (as most recently published, as of the beginning of the 
taxable year, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development).
    ``(c) Definitions and Special Rules.--For purposes of this 
section--
            ``(1) Applicable percentage.--The applicable percentage 
        shall be determined in accordance with the following table:

                                                         The applicable
``If gross income is:                                    percentage is:
        Not over $25,000.............................      100 percent 
        Over $25,000, but not over $50,000...........       75 percent 
        Over $50,000, but not over $75,000...........       50 percent 
        Over $75,000, but not over $100,000..........       25 percent 
        Over $100,000, but not over $125,000.........       10 percent 
        Over $125,000................................        0 percent.
            ``(2) Partial year residence.--The Secretary shall 
        prescribe such rules as are necessary to carry out the purposes 
        of this section for taxpayers with respect to whom a residence 
        is a principal residence for only a portion of the taxable 
        year.
            ``(3) Special rule for individuals residing in government-
        subsidized housing.--In the case of a principal residence--
                    ``(A) the rent with respect to which is subsidized 
                under a Federal, State, local, or tribal program, and
                    ``(B) with respect to which the taxpayer elects the 
                application of this paragraph,
        in lieu of the credit determined under subsection (a), there 
        shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this 
        subtitle for such taxable year an amount equal to \1/12\ of the 
        amount of rent paid by the taxpayer (and not subsidized under 
        any such program) during the taxable year with respect to such 
        residence.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart C of 
part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 36B the 
following new item:

``Sec. 36C. Rent paid for principal residence credit.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
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