Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act creates an individual federal income-tax credit for uncompensated spending on a qualified hearing aid. The credit covers the amount paid during the year up to $1,000. Insurance or other reimbursement reduces the qualifying expense.
The hearing aid must fall within the cited FDA device regulations, be authorized for commercial distribution under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and be intended for the taxpayer or an individual treated as the taxpayer's dependent under the specified personal-exemption provision.
No credit is allowed when modified adjusted gross income exceeds $300,000 for a joint return or head of household and $150,000 for any other individual. These are hard cliffs rather than phaseouts. Modified income adds back amounts excluded under the foreign earned income, Puerto Rico, and possessions provisions.
An election must be made for the individual who uses the hearing aid, and an election cannot be made if one was in effect for that individual in any of the previous four tax years. The bill therefore provides at most one elected credit for that user in a five-year period. It also denies a credit for an expense already used for another federal deduction or credit.
Because the credit is placed among the Code's nonrefundable personal credits, it offsets income-tax liability but does not itself promise a cash refund beyond tax owed. The text does not index the $1,000 cap, phase out the credit gradually, cover fully reimbursed costs, or waive the five-year rule for loss or medical change. It applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.
Who Benefits and How
Eligible taxpayers and dependents receive up to $1,000 in lower federal income tax for a hearing-aid purchase. People with uninsured costs gain the clearest direct benefit. Manufacturers, retailers, audiologists, and tax preparers may gain demand.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Treasury and federal taxpayers bear foregone revenue. IRS staff must administer income cliffs, FDA eligibility, reimbursement tracing, dependent status, elections, and the five-year lookback. High-income purchasers, people without enough tax liability, fully reimbursed purchasers, and recent credit users receive no or limited benefit.
Key Provisions
- Creates a hearing-aid income-tax credit.
- Caps qualifying cost at $1,000.
- Excludes insurance-reimbursed amounts.
- Requires FDA-authorized commercial distribution.
- Covers hearing aids used by the taxpayer.
- Covers hearing aids used by a qualifying dependent.
- Sets a $300,000 joint-return income cliff.
- Sets a $300,000 head-of-household income cliff.
- Sets a $150,000 income cliff for other filers.
- Adds back specified foreign or possessions income exclusions.
- Requires an election for the hearing-aid user.
- Limits elections to once every five years.
- Prohibits duplicate deductions or credits.
- Provides no inflation adjustment.
- Operates as a nonrefundable personal credit.
- Applies to taxable years beginning after 2026.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a nonrefundable federal income-tax credit for up to $1,000 of otherwise-uncompensated spending on an FDA-authorized hearing aid for the taxpayer or a qualifying dependent, subject to hard modified-income cliffs, a once-per-five-years election for each user, no-double-benefit rules, and a post-2026 effective date.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Income Tax, Hearing Aids, Medical Devices, Disability Access, Dependent Healthcare Expenses
Primary Purpose
Creates a nonrefundable federal income-tax credit for up to $1,000 of otherwise-uncompensated spending on an FDA-authorized hearing aid for the taxpayer or a qualifying dependent, subject to hard modified-income cliffs, a once-per-five-years election for each user, no-double-benefit rules, and a post-2026 effective date.
Policy Domains
Section 2 credit amount, reimbursement exclusion, income cliffs, modified-income definition, qualified hearing aids and users, five-year election, no-double-benefit rule, and effective date
Identified Gains
- Taxpayers purchasing hearing aids
- Qualifying dependents using hearing aids
- People paying uninsured hearing-aid costs
- Hearing-aid manufacturers
- Hearing-aid retailers
- Audiology practices
- Tax preparers serving hearing-aid purchasers
Identified Costs
- United States Treasury
- Federal taxpayers financing the credit
- IRS individual-credit administration staff
- Purchasers above the income threshold
- Purchasers without federal income-tax liability
- Recent credit users within four years
- Fully reimbursed hearing-aid purchasers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Mr. Mullin introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Audiology practices, Hearing-aid manufacturers, Hearing-aid purchasers
IRS individual-credit administration staff, United States Treasury
Tax preparers serving hearing-aid purchasers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "user"
- → Taxpayer or qualifying dependent intended to use the device
- "seller"
- → Manufacturer or retailer supplying the hearing aid
- "insurer"
- → Entity reimbursing part of the purchase
- "purchaser"
- → Taxpayer paying for a qualifying hearing aid
- "administrator"
- → IRS official administering the credit and election
Note: {'scope_ids': ['hearing_aid_tax_credit'], 'description': 'The benefit is a nonrefundable credit rather than a direct subsidy, disappears completely above the income cliffs, covers only unreimbursed cost, is limited by user-specific five-year elections, and cannot duplicate another tax benefit.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Adjusted gross income increased by amounts excluded under Code sections 911, 931, or 933.
A required election that cannot be repeated for the same hearing-aid user when an election was in effect in any of the four preceding tax years.
An FDA-regulated and commercially authorized hearing aid intended for the taxpayer or a qualifying dependent.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology