Nov. 12, 1997 Contact Gaye Vandermyn (541) 346-3133 EUGENE--The University of Oregon is advising students not to pay their winter tuition bills this year. Instead, pay after Jan. 1, 1998, advises an official notice included in Winter Term tuition bills going out this week, The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, just adopted by Congress, provides the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit of up to $1,500 to help offset tuition costs for students in their first two years of college. The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 1998, explains Ed Vignoul, UO financial aid director. "Students and their parents who are eligible to claim the tax credit on their 1998 tax returns can't claim a credit for any payments dated, sent or delivered in 1997," Vignoul adds, "so, until the Department of the Treasury defines exactly what is meant by `first two years of college,' the university is strongly recommending that all undergraduates delay paying winter 1998 tuition and fees until the new year." The notices will be included in the tuition bill statements of Nov. 15 and Dec. 15. Students will have until Jan. 10 to pay Winter Term tuition. Payments made after that date will be charged the usual late-fee penalty. The UO also is delaying the disbursement of financial aid for Winter Term to ensure that UO students receive the maximum benefit from this credit. No winter financial aid will be applied to any student's account until Jan. 1, 1998. The first cash back checks will be available Monday, Jan. 5. Law students, who register on a different schedule, can pick up their cash back checks Jan. 8. Not everyone will be eligible for the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit. Individuals who do not pay taxes, who are above certain income levels, or whose tuition is being paid by certain types of grants and scholarships may not be eligible. The U.S. Treasury Department has yet to release regulations regarding these programs, so there are still many unknowns. A handout providing additional information about these credits may be found on campus in the Business and Financial Aid offices at Oregon Hall. The IRS has published Notice 97-60 on the World Wide Web to provide more detailed information on not only the Hope Scholarship Credit, but also on the Lifetime Learning Credit, Education IRAs and the Student Loan Interest Deduction. The notice may be found at: <http://www.ed.gov/offices/ope/ppi/tra_qa.html>. Vignoul says students or their parents who are not eligible for the Hope Scholarship program may be eligible for tax credits of up to $1,000 under the Lifetime Learning Credit provisions included in the same tax reform bill. However, those provisions don't take effect until after July 1, 1998. Lifetime Learning credits are calculated differently, but contain many of the same eligibility criteria as the Hope scholarship, the UO financial aid director explains. -30- #O-1082/Local,OrDailies,PDX,OrWeeklies