Senate Proposes To Reduce Tax Of Tuition-payers

The Senate voted last Friday to offer an income tax credit to those paying college students' tuition. But the measure, opposed by the Johnson administration and tax policy leaders in the House, has little chance of becoming law.

Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff (D-Conn.) offered the measure as a rider to a House-passed bill restoring tax benefits for business investment in equipment and buildings. However, said Senator Eugene J.McCarthy (D-Minn.), the rider will probably be deleted by the conference committee now seeking a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill.

For college expenses of $1500 or more, the proposal, passed by a Senate vote of 53 to 26, provides for a maximum credit of $325 per year.

The credit would be reduced $1 for each $100 of income exceeding $25,000. According to this formula, taxpayers with incomes above $57,500 would not be-eligible for any allowance.

"Class Legislation"

Administration and House opposition is based largely upon the cost to the government. The Treasury would probably lose $600,000 in tax revenue the first year, and by 1970 that figure would rise to about $1.3 billion annually.

Opponents of the bill have also alleged that the proposal is "class legislation" that would aid only those with sufficient income to send their children to college. The fair solution to the problem, they say, is to provide federal scholarships and loans to students.