1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Higher Education Loan Payments for Students and Parents Act or the HELP for Students and Parents Act . 2. Exclusion for employer payment of qualified education loans and certain qualified tuition plan contributions (a) In general Section 127(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking and at the end of subparagraph (A), by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (D), and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following new subparagraphs: (B) the payment by an employer of principal or interest on any qualified education loan (as defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by the employee, (C) any qualified dependent 529 contributions (as defined in section 45S(d)) made by the employer, and . (b) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to payments made by employers after December 31, 2017. 3. Employer provided higher education assistance credit (a) In general Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 45S. Employer-provided higher education assistance credit (a) In general For purposes of section 38, the employer-provided higher education assistance credit determined under this section for the taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of— (1) 50 percent of the student loan repayment expenditures of the taxpayer for the taxable year, and (2) 50 percent of the qualified dependent 529 contributions made by the taxpayer for the taxable year. (b) Dollar limitation The amount taken into account under each of paragraphs (1) and (2) with respect to any employee for any taxable year shall not exceed $5,250. (c) Student loan repayment expenditure For purposes of this section, the term student loan repayment expenditure means any amount paid by an employer for principal or interest on any qualified education loan (as defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred by an employee. (d) Qualified dependent 529 contribution For purposes of this