I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1575

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide assistance with 

elementary and secondary educational costs to parents of children with 

disabilities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2003

Mr. PAUL 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 provide 

assistance with elementary and secondary educational 

costs to parents of children with disabilities.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help and Opportuni5 ties for Parents of Exceptional Children Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU2 CATIONAL EXPENSES OF CHILDREN WITH 

3 DISABILITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is 

7 amended by inserting after section 25B the following new 

8 section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 25C. CREDIT FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

10 EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES OF CHILDREN 

11 WITH DISABILITIES. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

13 there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax imposed 

14 by this chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to 

15 the qualified educational expenses paid during such tax16 able year for elementary or secondary education of each 

17 child with a disability who is a dependent of the taxpayer 

18 with respect to whom the taxpayer is allowed a deduction 

19 under section 151. 

20 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The credit allowed by subsection 

21 (a) shall not exceed $3,000 per child with a disability for 

22 any taxable year. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

24 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.—

25 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

26 educational expenses’ means cost of attendance 
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1 in connection with the elementary or secondary 

2 education of a student at a qualified edu3 cational institution. Under regulations pre4 scribed by the Secretary, rules similar to the 

5 rules relating to cost of attendance (within the 

6 meaning of section 472 of the Higher Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ll) (as in ef8 fect on the date of the enactment of this para9 graph) shall apply for purposes of the preceding 

10 sentence. 

11 ‘‘(B) COORDINATION WITH EDUCATION

12 SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.—The amount taken into 

13 account under subsection (a) with respect to a 

14 child shall be reduced by the amount of any dis15 tribution from any Coverdell education savings 

16 account of which such child is a beneficiary 

17 which is not includible in gross income for the 

18 taxable year by reason of section 530(d)(2)(A). 

19 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.—

20 The term ‘qualified educational institution’ means 

21 any educational institution (including any private, 

22 parochial, religious, or home school) organized for 

23 the purpose of providing elementary or secondary 

24 education. 
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1 ‘‘(3) CHILD WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

2 ‘child with a disability’ shall have the same meaning 

3 as the meaning given to such term by section 602(3) 

4 of the Individuals with Disabilities Act (20 U.S.C. 

5 1401(3)). 

6 ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

8 year beginning in a calendar year after 2003, the 

9 $3,000 amount contained in subsection (b) shall be 

10 increased by an amount equal to—

11 ‘‘(A) $3,000, multiplied by 

12 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter13 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

14 year in which the taxable year begins by sub15 stituting ‘calendar year 2002’ for ‘calendar year 

16 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

17 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any increase determined 

18 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $10, such 

19 increase shall be rounded to the next highest mul20 tiple of $10. 

21 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

22 regulations to carry out this section, including regulations 

23 providing for claiming the credit under this section on 

24 form 1040EZ.’’. 
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

3 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat4 ing to section 25B the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 25C. Credit for elementary and secondary educational expenses of children with disabilities.’’.

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this Act shall apply to taxable years beginning after De7 cember 31, 2002.

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