To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Hope Scholarship Credit to be used for elementary and secondary expenses.

January 26, 2005

Mr. PAUL (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, and Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the Hope Scholarship Credit to be used for elementary and secondary expenses.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Hope Plus Scholarship Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. HOPE SCHOLARSHIP CREDIT AVAILABLE FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES.

(a) In General- Subsection (f) of section 25A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

`(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR HOPE SCHOLARSHIP CREDIT- In the case of the Hope Scholarship Credit, the term `qualified tuition and related expenses' shall include `qualified elementary and secondary education expenses' (as defined in section 530(b)(4)); except that--

`(A) such term shall include a contribution or gift to the school (other than the home school) at which dependents of the taxpayer are attending, and

`(B) the term `school' shall include a home school.'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.

END