Home School Equity Act for Tax Relief of 2012

[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5963 Introduced in House (IH)]

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.


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                    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 deduction with respect to home school 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 ``Home School Equity Act for Tax 
Relief of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Over 1.5 million children, or about 3 percent of 
        school-aged children, are home schooled in the United States 
        each year according to U.S. Department of Education's National 
        Center for Education Statistics (NCES).
            (2) The number of home schooled children is increasing 
        every year.
            (3) Many home schooling families spend thousands of dollars 
        on books, supplies, and other teaching materials.
            (4) The median amount of money spent annually on 
        educational materials is about $400 to $599 per home-educated 
        student.
            (5) Home schooled students have almost identical 
        achievement statistics as students who are products of the 
        public school system.
            (6) Home schooled students perform at continually 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.
            (9) Home schooled students perform at exceptionally high 
        levels regardless of level of regulation, family income, and 
        style of home schooling.
            (10) Home schoolers are allowed a tax deduction 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 EXPENSES 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 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.
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