Senate bill would provide consistent definition of education expenses

A bill (S. 1120) introduced into the U.S. Senate by Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR) would apply a single definition of higher education expenses in several Internal Revenue Code provisions, including the Hope and Lifetime Learning credits, the penalty waiver on distributions from IRAs, qualified scholarships, the bond education exclusion, the tuition deduction, and distributions from 529 plans.

In each case, qualified expense would include all expenses taken into account in determining the "cost of attendance" for federal financial-aid purposes.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.
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