To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to consolidate certain tax benefits for educational expenses, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make improvements to the child tax credit, and for other purposes.
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 493.
Title I: Student and Family Tax Simplification Act - Student and Family Tax Simplification Act - (Sec. 102) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for an American Opportunity Tax Credit, in lieu of the current Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits and the tax deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses, that provides for each eligible student (i.e., a student who meets certain requirements of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and who is carrying at least 1/2 the normal full-time course load) a credit of 100% of up to $2,000 of qualified tuition and related expenses (i.e., tuition, fees, and course materials, excluding expenses for courses involving sports, games, or hobbies or for expenses unrelated to academic instruction), plus 25% of so much of such expenses as exceeds $2,000, but not more than $4,000. Makes up to $1,500 of such credit refundable. Modifies the phaseout of such credit based on taxpayer modified adjusted gross income by increasing the income level for such phaseout. Allows an inflation adjustment to credit and phaseout amounts for taxable years beginning after 2018.
Eliminates the disallowance of the credit for students who have been convicted of a felony drug offense.
Requires a taxpayer claiming such credit to include on the his or her tax return the employer identification number of the educational institution to which qualified tuition and related expenses were paid.
(Sec. 103) Excludes from gross income, for income tax purposes, amounts received as a Federal Pell Grant in taxable years beginning after 2014.
(Sec. 104) Prohibits the entry of the budgetary effects of this Act on any PAYGO (pay-as-you-go) scorecard.
Title II: Child Tax Credit Improvement Act - Child Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2014 - (Sec. 202) Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the child tax credit, to: (1) increase from $110,00 to $150,000 ($75,000 for individual taxpayers and married taxpayers filing separately) the threshold amount applicable to married couples filing joint tax returns above which such tax credit is reduced, and (2) allow an inflation adjustment to the threshold amounts and the $1,000 credit amount beginning after 2014.
The summary continues for 2 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on July 24, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 29, 2014: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 493.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Diane Black (R-TN) introduced it on October 30, 2013, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on October 30, 2013, 4698 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4426 days ago, on July 29, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers