II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 931 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance the Child and 

Dependent Care Tax Credit and make the credit fully refundable. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. 

CARDIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, 

Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BENNET, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. REED, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. SCHUMER) 

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 enhance 

the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and make 

the credit fully refundable. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child and Dependent 

5 Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE 

2 TAX CREDIT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes 

7 of paragraph (1), the term ‘applicable percentage’ 

8 means 50 percent reduced (but not below 20 per9 cent) by 1 percentage point for each $2,000 (or frac10 tion thereof) by which the taxpayer’s adjusted gross 

11 income for the taxable year exceeds $120,000.’’. 

12 (b) INCREASE IN DOLLAR LIMIT ON AMOUNT CRED13 ITABLE.—Subsection (c) of section 21 of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘$6,000’’; and 

17 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$6,000’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘$12,000’’. 

19 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR MARRIED COUPLES FILING

20 SEPARATE RETURNS.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(e) of 

21 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

22 as follows: 

23 ‘‘(2) MARRIED COUPLES FILING SEPARATE RE24 TURNS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of married 

2 individuals who do not file a joint return for the 

3 taxable year— 

4 ‘‘(i) the applicable percentage under 

5 subsection (a)(2) and the number of quali6 fying individuals and aggregate amount ex7 cludable under section 129 for purposes of 

8 subsection (c) shall be determined with re9 spect to each such individual as if the indi10 vidual had filed a joint return with the in11 dividual’s spouse, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of the 

13 credits allowed under this section for such 

14 taxable year with respect to both spouses 

15 shall not exceed the amount which would 

16 have been allowed under this section if the 

17 individuals had filed a joint return. 

18 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

19 prescribe such regulations or other guidance as 

20 is necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

21 subsection.’’. 

22 (d) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Section 21 of 

23 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

24 (1) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub25 section (g); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol2 lowing new subsection: 

3 ‘‘(f) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a calendar 

5 year beginning after 2020, the $120,000 amount in 

6 paragraph (2) of subsection (a) and the dollar 

7 amounts in subsection (c) shall each be increased by 

8 an amount equal to— 

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

10 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter11 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

12 year in which the taxable year begins, deter13 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2019’ for 

14 ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

15 thereof. 

16 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount, after 

17 being increased under paragraph (1), is not a mul18 tiple of $100, such dollar amount shall be rounded 

19 to the next lowest multiple of $100.’’. 

20 (e) CREDIT TO BE REFUNDABLE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986 is amended— 

23 (A) by redesignating section 21 as section 

24 36C; and 


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1 (B) by moving section 36C, as so redesig2 nated, from subpart A of part IV of subchapter 

3 A of chapter 1 to the location immediately be4 fore section 37 in subpart C of part IV of sub5 chapter A of chapter 1. 

6 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (A) Paragraph (1) of section 23(f) of the 

8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘36C(e)’’. 

10 (B) Paragraph (6) of section 35(g) of such 

11 Code is amended by striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and in12 serting ‘‘36C(e)’’. 

13 (C) Paragraph (1) of section 36C(a) of 

14 such Code (as redesignated by paragraph (1)) 

15 is amended by striking ‘‘this chapter’’ and in16 serting ‘‘this subtitle’’. 

17 (D) Subparagraph (C) of section 129(a)(2) 

18 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

19 21(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(e)’’. 

20 (E) Paragraph (2) of section 129(b) of 

21 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

22 21(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(d)(2)’’. 

23 (F) Paragraph (1) of section 129(e) of 

24 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

25 21(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C(b)(2)’’. 


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1 (G) Subsection (e) of section 213 of such 

2 Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 21’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘section 36C’’. 

4 (H) Subparagraph (H) of section 

5 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘section 21’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36C’’. 

7 (I) Subparagraph (L) of section 

8 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

9 ‘‘section 21, 24, or 32,’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

10 24, 32, or 36C,’’. 

11 (J) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of 

12 title 31, United States Code, is amended by in13 serting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

14 (K) The table of sections for subpart C of 

15 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In16 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in17 serting after the item relating to section 36B 

18 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for 

gainful employment.’’. 

19 (L) The table of sections for subpart A of 

20 such part IV is amended by striking the item 

21 relating to section 21. 


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1 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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