Application FEES Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Application FEES Act amends Internal Revenue Code section 529. Qualified higher education expenses would include fees required of a beneficiary to apply for admission to any eligible educational institution. Because 529 distributions used for qualified higher education expenses are generally tax-advantaged, the bill lets families use 529 savings for college or other eligible institution application fees without treating the distribution as nonqualified. The amendment applies to distributions made after enactment.
Who Benefits and How
Students applying to colleges or other eligible educational institutions, families with 529 accounts, 529 account beneficiaries, parents paying application fees, and college access counselors benefit because application fees become an eligible use of 529 funds. The change may help applicants who apply to multiple schools and face cumulative fee costs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
529 plan administrators, IRS forms and guidance staff, tax preparers, and families using 529 funds must track application-fee distributions and eligibility after enactment. Federal revenue collections may decline modestly if more distributions receive tax-free treatment. Eligible educational institutions may see application fees paid through 529 accounts but do not receive a direct subsidy.
Key Provisions
- Adds required admissions application fees to the section 529 qualified higher education expense definition.
- Allows tax-advantaged 529 distributions for application fees to eligible educational institutions.
- Applies the amendment to distributions made after enactment.
- Requires families and plan administrators to document that fees were required of the beneficiary for admission applications.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Expands tax-free 529 qualified higher education expenses to include fees a beneficiary is required to pay to apply for admission to an eligible educational institution, applying to distributions made after enactment.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Education, Consumers
Primary Purpose
Expands tax-free 529 qualified higher education expenses to include fees a beneficiary is required to pay to apply for admission to an eligible educational institution, applying to distributions made after enactment.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Students applying to college
- 529 account beneficiaries
- Families with 529 accounts
- Parents paying application fees
- College access counselors
Identified Costs
- 529 plan administrators
- IRS staff
- Tax preparers
- Federal revenue collections
- Families documenting application fees
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Ms. Bynum introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
529 account beneficiaries, Families with 529 accounts, Parents paying application fees
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology