I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2097
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable credit
against income tax for tuition expenses incurred for each qualifying
child of the taxpayer in attending public or private elementary or sec-
ondary school.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH14, 2025
Mr. S
MITHof New Jersey 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 a
refundable credit against income tax for tuition expenses
incurred for each qualifying child of the taxpayer in
attending public or private elementary or secondary
school.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education, Achieve-4
ment, and Opportunity Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) Private schools supplement the public school 1
system and are a vital component of our Nation’s 2
school network. 3
(2) The public school system was created to 4
serve students, not the other way around. Children 5
should have the opportunity to attend the school sys-6
tem that is most conducive to developing their abili-7
ties, and parents have the right to choose the public 8
or private school that best meets their child’s indi-9
vidual needs. 10
SEC. 3. CREDIT FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDU-11
CATION EXPENSES. 12
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub-13
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 14
1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by insert-15
ing after section 36B the following new section: 16
‘‘SEC. 36C. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION EX-17
PENSES. 18
‘‘(a) A
LLOWANCE OFCREDIT.— 19
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—In the case of an indi-20
vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the 21
tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year the 22
amount of the qualified education expenses paid by 23
the taxpayer during the taxable year for each quali-24
fying child of the taxpayer. 25
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‘‘(2) AMOUNT PER CHILD .—The amount of 1
credit allowable under paragraph (1) for any taxable 2
year with respect to the qualified education expenses 3
of each qualifying child of the taxpayer shall not ex-4
ceed $10,000. 5
‘‘(b) L
IMITATIONBASED ONADJUSTEDGROSSIN-6
COME.— 7
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—The amount of the credit 8
allowable under subsection (a) (after the application 9
of subsection (a)(2)) shall be reduced (but not below 10
zero) by $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by 11
which the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income 12
exceeds the threshold amount. 13
‘‘(2) D
EFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES .—For 14
purposes of this paragraph (1)— 15
‘‘(A) T
HRESHOLD AMOUNT .—The term 16
‘threshold amount’ means— 17
‘‘(i) $150,000 in the case of a joint 18
return, and 19
‘‘(ii) $75,000 in any other case. 20
‘‘(B) M
ODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS IN -21
COME.—The term ‘modified adjusted gross in-22
come’ means adjusted gross income increased 23
by any amount excluded from gross income 24
under section 911, 931, or 933. 25
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‘‘(C) MARITAL STATUS.—Marital status 1
shall be determined under section 7703. 2
‘‘(c) D
EFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 3
‘‘(1) Q
UALIFYING CHILD.—The term ‘qualifying 4
child’ has the meaning given such term in section 5
24(c). 6
‘‘(2) Q
UALIFIED EDUCATION EXPENSES .— 7
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 8
education expenses’ means amounts paid for— 9
‘‘(i) tuition and fees required for the 10
enrollment or attendance of a student at a 11
qualified educational institution, and 12
‘‘(ii) so much of the following non-tui-13
tion expenses as does not exceed $1,500: 14
‘‘(I) Computers, educational soft-15
ware, computer support services, and 16
books required for courses of instruc-17
tion at a qualified educational institu-18
tion. 19
‘‘(II) Academic tutoring (by a 20
person other than the taxpayer). 21
‘‘(III) Special needs services for 22
qualifying children who are children 23
with disabilities (as such term is de-24
fined in section 602(3) of the Individ-25
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uals with Disabilities Education Act 1
(20 U.S.C. 1401(3))). 2
‘‘(IV) Fees for transportation 3
services to and from a private school, 4
if the transportation is provided by 5
the school and the school charges a 6
fee for the transportation. 7
‘‘(V) Academic testing services. 8
‘‘(B) A
MOUNTS EXCLUDED .—The term 9
does not include special school fees for nonaca-10
demic purposes, including fees for student ac-11
tivities, athletics, insurance, school uniforms, 12
and nonacademic after-school activities. 13
‘‘(3) Q
UALIFIED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION .— 14
The term ‘qualified educational institution’ means 15
any public, charter, private, parochial, or religious 16
school organized for the purpose of providing ele-17
mentary or secondary education, or both, without re-18
gard to the religious nature, character, affiliation, 19
mission, beliefs, or exercise of such school. 20
‘‘(d) A
DJUSTMENT FOR COVERDELLSAVINGSAC-21
COUNTDISTRIBUTIONS.—The amount of qualified edu-22
cation expenses taken into account under subsection (a) 23
with respect to an individual for a taxable year shall be 24
reduced (before the application of subsection (b)) by the 25
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sum of any amounts not includible in gross income under 1
section 530(d)(2) for such taxable year by reason of the 2
qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (as 3
defined in section 530(b)(3)) of such individual for such 4
taxable year.’’. 5
(b) T
ECHNICALAMENDMENTS.— 6
(1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 7
31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 8
‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 9
(2) The table of sections for subpart C of part 10
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-11
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 12
item relating to section 36C the following new item: 13
‘‘Sec. 36C. Elementary and secondary education expenses.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 14
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 15
the date of the enactment of this Act. 16
Æ
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