I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1951 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow individuals a credit 

against income tax for tuition and related expenses for public and nonpublic elementary and secondary education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 2, 2009 

Mr. PAUL (for himself and Mr. MCHENRY) 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 individuals a credit against income tax for tuition and related expenses for public and nonpublic elementary and 

secondary education. 

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 ‘‘Family Education 

5 Freedom Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR TUITION AND RELATED EXPENSES 

2 FOR PUBLIC AND NONPUBLIC ELEMENTARY 

3 AND SECONDARY EDUCATION. 

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 25D the following new 

8 section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 25E. TUITION AND RELATED EXPENSES FOR PUBLIC 

10 AND NONPUBLIC ELEMENTARY AND SEC11 ONDARY EDUCATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in13 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

14 imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount 

15 equal to the qualified educational expenses paid during 

16 such taxable year for the elementary or secondary edu17 cation of any dependent (as defined in section 152) of the 

18 taxpayer at a qualified educational institution. 

19 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The credit allowed by this section 

20 shall not exceed $5,000 per student for any taxable year. 

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

22 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.— 

23 The term ‘qualified educational expenses’ means cost 

24 of attendance in connection with the elementary or 

25 secondary education of the student at a qualified 

26 educational institution. Under regulations prescribed 


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1 by the Secretary, rules similar to the rules relating 

2 to cost of attendance (within the meaning of section 

3 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1087ll) (as in effect on the date of the enact5 ment of this paragraph) shall apply for purposes of 

6 the preceding sentence. 

7 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.— 

8 The term ‘qualified educational institution’ means 

9 any educational institution (including any private, 

10 parochial, religious, or home school) organized for 

11 the purpose of providing elementary or secondary 

12 education, or both. 

13 ‘‘(d) COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 

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

15 year beginning in a calendar year after 2009, the 

16 $5,000 amount contained in subsection (b) shall be 

17 increased by an amount equal to— 

18 ‘‘(A) $5,000, multiplied by 

19 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter20 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

21 year in which the taxable year begins by sub22 stituting ‘calendar year 2008’ for ‘calendar year 

23 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

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

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


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1 increase shall be rounded to the next highest mul2 tiple of $10. In the case of a married individual (as 

3 determined under section 7703) filing a separate re4 turn, the preceding sentence shall be applied by sub5 stituting ‘$5’ for ‘$10’ each place it appears. 

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

7 regulations to carry out this section, including regulations 

8 providing for claiming the credit under this section on 

9 Form 1040EZ.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

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

12 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat13 ing to section 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Tuition and related expenses for public and nonpublic elementary 

and secondary education.’’. 

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

15 this section shall apply to amounts paid in taxable years 

16 beginning after December 31, 2008. 

Æ 


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