[20081003]RS21870_教育税收优惠：它们是永久的还是临时的？.pdf

Order Code RS21870Updated October 3, 2008Education Tax Benefits: Are They Permanent or Temporary?Linda LevineSpecialist in Labor EconomicsDomestic Social Policy DivisionSummaryFederal income tax benefits available to individuals to mitigate escalating costsassociated with postsecondary education have multiplied within the past decade. Someof these benefits are authorized temporarily (e.g., the Higher Education Deduction),while others are authorized permanently (e.g., the Hope Scholarship Credit, LifetimeLearning Credit, Coverdell Education Savings Account, and Section 529 Program). Butcomplicating this distinction is the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Actof 2001 (EGTRRA, P.L. 107-16), in which Congress enhanced temporarily aspects ofpermanent education tax benefits and authorized temporarily the Higher EducationDeduction. This report very briefly describes the postsecondary education tax benefitsavailable to individuals and highlights their temporary-versus-permanent features. Itdiscusses legislation that would remove the applicability of EGTRRAs sunset provisionto these education tax benefits and H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic StabilizationAct of 2008, which the