I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1072
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit against
income tax for higher education loan interest payments.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 15, 2001
Mr. FOLEY 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
a credit against income tax for higher education loan
interest payments.
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 ‘‘Student Debt Relief
Act’’.
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR INTEREST ON HIGHER EDUCATION
LOANS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to nonrefundable personal credits) is
amended by inserting after section 25A the following new
section:
‘‘SEC. 25B. INTEREST ON HIGHER EDUCATION LOANS.
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax
imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an amount
equal to the interest paid by the taxpayer during the tax-
able year on any qualified education loan.
‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the credit allowed by subsection (a) for
the taxable year shall not exceed $1,500.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION
BASED
ON
MODIFIED
AD-
JUSTED GROSS INCOME.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—If the modified ad-
justed gross income of the taxpayer for the tax-
able year exceeds $50,000 ($100,000 in the
case of a joint return), the amount which would
(but for this paragraph) be allowable as a credit
under this section shall be reduced (but not
below zero) by the amount which bears the
same ratio to the amount which would be so al-
lowable as such excess bears to $10,000
($20,000 in the case of a joint return).
‘‘(B) MODIFIED
ADJUSTED
GROSS
IN-
COME.—The term ‘modified adjusted gross in-
come’ means adjusted gross income determined
without regard to sections 911, 931, and 933.
‘‘(C) INFLATION
ADJUSTMENT.—In the
case of any taxable year beginning after 2003,
the $50,000 and $100,000 amounts referred to
in subparagraph (A) shall be increased by an
amount equal to—
‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by
‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section (1)(f)(3) for the
calendar year in which the taxable year be-
gins, by substituting ‘2002’ for ‘1992’.
‘‘(D) ROUNDING.—If any amount as ad-
justed under subparagraph (C) is not a multiple
of $50, such amount shall be rounded to the
nearest multiple of $50.
‘‘(c) DEPENDENTS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT.—No
credit shall be allowed by this section to an individual for
the taxable year if a deduction under section 151 with re-
spect to such individual is allowed to another taxpayer for
the taxable year beginning in the calendar year in which
such individual’s taxable year begins.
‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
defined in section 25B(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as added by this section) incurred on, before, or
after the date of the enactment of this Act, but only with
respect to any loan interest payment due after December
31, 2001.
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