II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 143 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for a college 

opportunity tax credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2009 

Mr. KERRY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for a college opportunity tax credit. 

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 ‘‘College Opportunity 

5 Tax Credit Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 25A of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 (relating to Hope scholarship credit) 

9 is amended by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 


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1 (j) and by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(i) COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY TAX CREDIT.—In the 

4 case of any taxable year beginning in 2009 or 2010— 

5 ‘‘(1) HOPE SCHOLARSHIP CREDIT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) INCREASE IN CREDIT.—The Hope 

7 scholarship credit shall be an amount equal to 

8 the sum of— 

9 ‘‘(i) 100 percent of so much of the 

10 qualified tuition and related expenses paid 

11 by the taxpayer during the taxable year 

12 (for education furnished to the eligible stu13 dent during any academic period beginning 

14 in such taxable year) as does not exceed 

15 $2,000, plus 

16 ‘‘(ii) 50 percent of such expenses so 

17 paid as exceeds $2,000 but does not exceed 

18 $6,000. 

19 ‘‘(B) HOPE SCHOLARSHIP CREDIT MADE

20 REFUNDABLE.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The aggregate 

22 credits allowed under subpart C shall be 

23 increased by the amount of the credit 

24 which would be allowed under this sec25 tion— 


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1 ‘‘(I) by reason of subsection 

2 (a)(1) (after the application of this 

3 paragraph), and 

4 ‘‘(II) without regard to this sub5 paragraph and the limitation under 

6 section 26(a) or paragraph (3), as the 

7 case may be. 

8 ‘‘(ii) TREATMENT OF CREDIT.—The 

9 amount of the credit allowed under this 

10 subparagraph shall not be treated as a 

11 credit allowed under this subpart and shall 

12 reduce the amount of credit otherwise al13 lowable under subsection (a) without re14 gard to section 26(a) or paragraph (3), as 

15 the case may be. 

16 ‘‘(C) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR 4 YEARS.— 

17 Subparagraphs (A) of subsection (b)(2) shall be 

18 applied by substituting ‘4’ for ‘2’. 

19 ‘‘(D) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR ANY YEAR OF

20 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION.—Subsection 

21 (b)(2) shall be applied without regard to sub22 paragraph (C). 

23 ‘‘(2) LIFETIME LEARNING CREDIT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

25 student for whom an election is in effect under 


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1 this paragraph for any taxable year, the Life2 time Learning Credit for such taxable year is 

3 an amount equal to the sum of— 

4 ‘‘(i) 40 percent of so much of the 

5 qualified tuition and related expenses paid 

6 by the taxpayer during the taxable year 

7 (for education furnished to the student 

8 during any academic period beginning in 

9 such taxable year) as does not exceed 

10 $1,000, plus 

11 ‘‘(ii) 20 percent of such expenses so 

12 paid as exceeds $1,000 but does not exceed 

13 the applicable limit. 

14 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE LIMIT.—For purposes of 

15 subparagraph (A)(ii), the applicable limit for 

16 any taxable year is an amount equal to 3 times 

17 the dollar amount in effect under subparagraph 

18 (A)(i) for such taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULES FOR DETERMINING

20 EXPENSES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) COORDINATION WITH HOPE

22 SCHOLARSHIP CREDIT.—The qualified tui23 tion and related expenses taken into ac24 count with respect to a student under sub25 section (a)(1) for the taxable year shall not 


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1 be taken into account under this para2 graph. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXPENSES FOR JOB SKILLS

4 COURSES ALLOWED.—For purposes of sub5 paragraph (A), qualified tuition and re6 lated expenses shall include expenses de7 scribed in subsection (f)(1) with respect to 

8 any course of instruction at an eligible 

9 educational institution to acquire or im10 prove job skills of the student. 

11 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF

12 TAX.—In the case of a taxable year to which section 

13 26(a)(2) does not apply, the credit allowed under 

14 subsection (a) for the taxable year shall not exceed 

15 the excess of— 

16 ‘‘(A) the sum of the regular tax liability 

17 (as defined in section 26(b)) plus the tax im18 posed by section 55, over 

19 ‘‘(B) the sum of the credits allowed under 

20 this subpart (other than this section and sec21 tions 23, 24, and 25B) and section 27 for the 

22 taxable year.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1324(b) of 

24 title 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

25 ‘‘25B(i)(1)(B)’’ before ‘‘35’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2008. 

Æ 


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