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S. 3076, “Home
School Opportunities Make Education Sound Act of 2008”
S. 3076, “Home School Opportunities Make Education Sound
Act of 2008” was introduced in the United States Senate on
June 3, 2008 by Senator David Vitter of Louisiana. The bill would
amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax deduction
for itemizers and nonitemizers for expenses relating to home schooling.
The maximum deduction would be $500 for any qualifying child,
and no more than $2000 for all qualifying children of the taxpayer.
The bill has been read twice and has been referred to the Committee
on Finance.
The
bill defines “qualified home school expenses” as expenses
for “books, supplies, and other equipment necessary for a
course of instruction in a classroom environment,… academic
tutoring,… special needs services for qualifying children
with disabilities…, and… any computer technology or
equipment… or Internet access and related services, if such
technology, equipment, or services are to be used by the qualifying
child and the qualifying child’s family during any of the
years that the qualifying child is educated in an elementary or
secondary home school (not including computer equipment designed
for sports, games, or hobbies unless such equipment is primarily
educational in nature), in connection with a course of instruction
in an elementary or secondary home school.” 1
You can read the full text of the bill by searching for it at
http://www.thomas.gov/.
Currently,
federal tax deductions are not allowed for any non-higher-education-
related expense, so this bill would break new ground in allowing
deductions for K-12 educational expenses. Parents who pay for
their children to attend private school cannot deduct expenses,
so this bill would allow special treatment of homeschoolers over
others who opt out of the public school system.
One
should note that tax deductions, which are what S. 3076 would
provide, lower taxable income. The dollar amount of tax savings
would depend on the family’s tax bracket. For example, if
a family’s income is taxed at 25%, a tax deduction of $500
would save them 25% of $500, or a total of $125. A family with
lower annual income who might have more need of tax relief, would
also have a lower tax rate, say 15%, and so would also save less
money (15% of $500 = $75). So while deductions carry similar risks
as tax credits2 for homeschoolers as far as opening the door
to more government regulation of homeschooling, they provide even
less monetary relief.
AHEM
has heard many reasons to oppose S. 3076, including:
• Invites
federal regulatory definitions of “homeschooling” and
“educational.”
•
The need to define “homeschooling” and “educational”
for the purpose of deciding what expenses qualify as tax deductions
will allow federal governmental control (something that does not
exist now) of homeschooling for very little return.
•
Potential conflicts with state laws could lead to unwelcome changes
in homeschooling laws at the state level.
•
State level homeschool activism better serves efforts to maintain
homeschooling freedoms.
AHEM’s
philosophy is to strengthen the grassroots presence of homeschoolers,
as our voices are strongest at the local and state level. It follows
that it is wise to keep homeschooling out of federal law as much
as possible to avoid further regulation and to keep the local,
grassroots strength of homeschooling alive. AHEM opposes S. 3076
and will keep an eye on the bill as it makes its way through the
legislative process.
1
http://www.thomas.gov/
2From
“Are Tax Credits for Educational Expenses a Good Idea for
Homeschoolers?” by Larry and Susan Kaseman. Home Education
Magazine, May-June 1998. <http://www.homeedmag.com/HEM/HEM153.98/153.98_clmn_tkch.html>
cited 24 June 2008.
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The
information on this website does not constitute legal advice;
it is provided for informational purposes only.
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