I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5963 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend for 1 year the 
deduction for expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers and 
to allow such deduction with respect to home school expenses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2012 
Mr. COLE 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 extend 
for 1 year the deduction for expenses of elementary 
and secondary school teachers and to allow such deduc-
tion with respect to home school expenses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Home School Equity 
Act for Tax Relief of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Over 1.5 million children, or about 3 per-
cent of school-aged children, are home schooled in 
the United States each year according to U.S. De-
partment of Education’s National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics (NCES). 
(2) The number of home schooled children is in-
creasing every year. 
(3) Many home schooling families spend thou-
sands of dollars on books, supplies, and other teach-
ing materials. 
(4) The median amount of money spent annu-
ally on educational materials is about $400 to $599 
per home-educated student. 
(5) Home schooled students have almost iden-
tical achievement statistics as students who are 
products of the public school system. 
(6) Home schooled students perform at contin-
ually higher levels on nationalized tests like the ACT 
and SAT. 
(7) Home schooling families are typically larger 
than the average United States family with 3 or 
more children. 
(8) In many communities, home schooling is the 
only alternative to failing public schools. 
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(9) Home schooled students perform at excep-
tionally high levels regardless of level of regulation, 
family income, and style of home schooling. 
(10) Home schoolers are allowed a tax deduc-
tion for school supply expenses in the States where 
home schools are treated as private schools, but are 
not allowed this deduction in States where home 
schools are given a different designation. 
SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN EX-
PENSES OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
SCHOOL TEACHERS. 
(a) EXTENSION.—Subparagraph (D) of section 
62(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 
by striking ‘‘or 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘2011, or 2012’’. 
(b) HOME SCHOOLS INCLUDED.—Subparagraph (B) 
of section 62(d)(1) of such Code is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting the 
following: ‘‘For purposes of this paragraph— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term’’, and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(ii) HOME
SCHOOLS.—The term 
‘school’ includes any home school which 
provides elementary or secondary education 
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if such school is treated as a home school 
or private school under State law.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2011. 
Æ 
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