II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 12

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage

penalty by providing that the income tax rate bracket amounts, and

the amount of the standard deduction, for joint returns shall be twice

the amounts applicable to unmarried individuals.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. NICKLES, Mr.

ABRAHAM, Mr. BURNS, Mr. COVERDELL, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr.

FRIST, Mr. HELMS, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. KYL, Mr. MACK, Mr. MCCONNELL,

Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. ALLARD) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate

the marriage penalty by providing that the income tax

rate bracket amounts, and the amount of the standard

deduction, for joint returns shall be twice the amounts

applicable to unmarried individuals.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Marriage Tax Penalty Elimination Act of 1999’’.
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1 (b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other2 wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend3 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

4 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

5 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi6 sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

7 (c) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment

8 made by section 2 shall be treated as a change in a rate

9 of tax for purposes of section 15 of the Internal Revenue

10 Code of 1986 .

11 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN INDIVID12 UAL INCOME TAX RATES.

13 (a) GENERAL RULE.—Section 1 (relating to tax im14 posed) is amended by striking subsections (a) through (e)

15 and inserting the following:

16 ‘‘(a) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS FILING JOINT RETURNS

17 AND SURVIVING SPOUSES.—There is hereby imposed on

18 the taxable income of—

19 ‘‘(1) every married individual (as defined in sec20 tion 7703) who makes a single return jointly with

21 his spouse under section 6013, and

22 ‘‘(2) every surviving spouse (as defined in sec23 tion 2(a)),

24 a tax determined in accordance with the following table:

‘‘If taxable income is: The tax is:

Not over $50,700 .......................... 15% of taxable income.
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‘‘If taxable income is: The tax is:

Over $50,700 but not over

$122,800.

$7,605, plus 28% of the excess over

$50,700.

Over $122,800 but not over

$256,200.

$27,793, plus 31% of the excess over

$122,800.

Over $256,200 but not over

$556,900.

$69,147, plus 36% of the excess over

$256,200.

Over $556,900 ............................... $177,399, plus 39.6% of the excess

over $556,900.

1 ‘‘(b) HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS.—There is hereby im2 posed on the taxable income of every head of a household

3 (as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined in accordance

4 with the following table:

‘‘If taxable income is: The tax is:

Not over $33,950 .......................... 15% of taxable income.

Over $33,950 but not over

$87,700.

$5,092.50, plus 28% of the excess

over $33,950.

Over $87,700 but not over

$142,000.

$20,142.50, plus 31% of the excess

over $87,700.

Over $142,000 but not over

$278,450.

$36,975.50, plus 36% of the excess

over $142,000.

Over $278,450 ............................... $86,097.50, plus 39.6% of the excess

over $278,450.

5 ‘‘(c) OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—There is hereby imposed

6 on the taxable income of every individual (other than an

7 individual to whom subsection (a) or (b) applies) a tax

8 determined in accordance with the following table:

‘‘If taxable income is: The tax is:

Not over $25,350 .......................... 15% of taxable income.

Over $25,350 but not over

$61,400.

$3,802.50, plus 28% of the excess

over $25,350.

Over $61,400 but not over

$128,100.

$13,896.50, plus 31% of the excess

over $61,400.

Over $128,100 but not over

$278,450.

$34,573.50, plus 36% of the excess

over $128,100.

Over $278,450 ............................... $88,699.50, plus 39.6% of the excess

over $278,450.

9 ‘‘(d) ESTATES AND TRUSTS.—There is hereby im10 posed on the taxable income of—

11 ‘‘(1) every estate, and
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1 ‘‘(2) every trust,

2 taxable under this subsection a tax determined in accord3 ance with the following table:

‘‘If taxable income is: The tax is:

Not over $1,700 ............................ 15% of taxable income.

Over $1,700 but not over $4,000 .. $255, plus 28% of the excess over

$1,700.

Over $4,000 but not over $6,100 .. $899, plus 31% of the excess over

$4,000.

Over $6,100 but not over $8,350 .. $1,550, plus 36% of the excess over

$6,100.

Over $8,350 ................................... $2,360, plus 39.6% of the excess over

$8,350.’’.

4 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT TO APPLY IN DETER5 MINING RATES FOR 2000.—Subsection (f) of section 1 is

6 amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘1993’’ in paragraph (1) and in8 serting ‘‘1999’’,

9 (2) by striking ‘‘1992’’ in paragraph (3)(B) and

10 inserting ‘‘1997’’, and

11 (3) by striking paragraph (7).

12 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

13 (1) The following provisions are each amended

14 by striking ‘‘1992’’ and inserting ‘‘1997’’ each place

15 it appears:

16 (A) Section 25A(h).

17 (B) Section 32(j)(1)(B).

18 (C) Section 41(e)(5)(C).

19 (D) Section 68(b)(2)(B).

20 (E) Section 135(b)(2)(B)(ii).
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1 (F) Section 151(d)(4).

2 (G) Section 221(g)(1)(B).

3 (H) Section 512(d)(2)(B).

4 (I) Section 513(h)(2)(C)(ii).

5 (J) Section 877(a)(2).

6 (K) Section 911(b)(2)(D)(ii)(II).

7 (L) Section 4001(e)(1)(B).

8 (M) Section 4261(e)(4)(A)(ii).

9 (N) Section 6039F(d).

10 (O) Section 6334(g)(1)(B).

11 (P) Section 7430(c)(1).

12 (2) Subclause (II) of section 42(h)(6)(G)(i) is

13 amended by striking ‘‘1987’’ and inserting ‘‘1997’’.

14 (3) Subparagraph (B) of section 59(j)(2) is

15 amended by striking ‘‘, determined by substituting

16 ‘1997’ for ‘1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof’’.

17 (4) Subparagraph (B) of section 132(f)(6) is

18 amended by inserting before the period ‘‘, deter19 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 1992’ for ‘cal20 endar year 1997’ in subparagraph (B) thereof’’.

21 (5) Paragraph (2) of section 220(g) of such

22 Code is amended by striking ‘‘by substituting ‘cal23 endar year 1997’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub24 paragraph (B) thereof’’.
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1 (6) Subparagraph (B) of section 685(c)(3) is

2 amended by striking ‘‘, by substituting ‘calendar

3 year 1997’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph

4 (B) thereof’’.

5 (7) Subparagraph (B) of section 2032A(a)(3) is

6 amended by striking ‘‘by substituting ‘calendar year

7 1997’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B)

8 thereof’’.

9 (8) Subparagraph (B) of section 2503(b)(2) is

10 amended by striking ‘‘by substituting ‘calendar year

11 1997’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B)

12 thereof’’.

13 (9) Paragraph (2) of section 2631(c) is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘by substituting ‘calendar year 1997’

15 for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) there16 of’’.

17 (10) Subparagraph (B) of section 6601(j)(3) is

18 amended by striking ‘‘by substituting ‘calendar year

19 1997’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B)

20 thereof’’.

21 (11) Sections 468B(b)(1), 511(b)(1), 641(a),

22 641(d)(2)(A), and 685(d) are each amended by

23 striking ‘‘section 1(e)’’ each place it appears and in24 serting ‘‘section 1(d)’’.
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1 (12) Sections 1(f)(2) and 904(b)(3)(E)(ii) are

2 each amended by striking ‘‘(d), or (e)’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘or (d)’’.

4 (13) Paragraph (1) of section 1(f) is amended

5 by striking ‘‘(d), and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘and (d)’’.

6 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

7 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

8 December 31, 1999.

9 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN STAND10 ARD DEDUCTION.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 63(c)

12 (relating to standard deduction) is amended to read as fol13 lows:

14 ‘‘(2) BASIC STANDARD DEDUCTION.—For pur15 poses of paragraph (1), the basic standard deduction

16 is—

17 ‘‘(A) $8,500 in the case of—

18 ‘‘(i) a joint return, or

19 ‘‘(ii) a surviving spouse (as defined in

20 section 2(a)),

21 ‘‘(B) $6,250 in the case of a head of

22 household (as defined in section 2(b)), or

23 ‘‘(C) $4,250 in any other case.’’

24 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—
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1 (1) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) is amended

2 to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(4) ADJUSTMENTS FOR INFLATION.—In the

4 case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar

5 year after 1999, each dollar amount contained in

6 paragraph (2) or (5) or subsection (f) shall be in7 creased by an amount equal to—

8 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by

9 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter10 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar

11 year in which the taxable year begins.’’

12 (2) Subparagraph (A) of section 63(c)(5) is

13 amended by striking ‘‘$500’’ and inserting ‘‘$700’’.

14 (3) Subsection (f) of section 63 is amended by

15 striking ‘‘$600’’ each place it appears and inserting

16 ‘‘$850’’ and by striking ‘‘$750’’ in paragraph (3)

17 and inserting ‘‘$1,050’’.

18 (4) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(6) is

19 amended by striking ‘‘subsection (c)(4) of section 63

20 (as it applies to subsections (c)(5)(A) and (f) of such

21 section)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 63(c)(4)’’.

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

23 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

24 December 31, 1999.

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