II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 598 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an above-theline deduction for child care expenses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2017 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself and Mr. PAUL) 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 provide 

an above-the-line deduction for child care expenses, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ABOVE-THE-LINE DEDUCTION FOR CHILD CARE 

4 EXPENSES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter A of chap6 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating section 224 as section 225, 

8 and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 223 the following 

10 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 224. CHILD CARE DEDUCTION. 

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION.—In the case of an 

3 individual for which there are 1 or more qualifying chil4 dren with respect to such individual for the taxable year, 

5 there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to 

6 the employment-related expenses paid by such individual 

7 during the taxable year. 

8 ‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount allowed as a 

10 deduction under subsection (a) with respect to the 

11 taxpayer for any taxable year shall not exceed— 

12 ‘‘(A) $7,000, if there is 1 qualifying child 

13 with respect to the taxpayer for such taxable 

14 year, or 

15 ‘‘(B) $14,000, if there are 2 or more quali16 fying children with respect to the taxpayer for 

17 such taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the 

19 case of a taxable year beginning after 2017, each of 

20 the dollar amounts in paragraph (1) shall be in21 creased by an amount equal to— 

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

23 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter24 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

25 year in which such taxable year begins, deter26 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2016’ for 


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1 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

2 thereof. 

3 If any amount as adjusted under the preceding sen4 tence is not a multiple of $100, such amount shall 

5 be rounded to the next highest multiple of $100. 

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur7 poses of this section— 

8 ‘‘(1) QUALIFYING CHILD.—The term ‘qualifying 

9 child’ means a dependent of the taxpayer (as defined 

10 in section 152(a)(1))— 

11 ‘‘(A) who has not attained age 13, or 

12 ‘‘(B) who is physically or mentally incapa13 ble of caring for himself or herself. 

14 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYMENT-RELATED EXPENSES.—The 

15 term ‘employment-related expenses’ has the meaning 

16 given such term by section 21(b)(2), applied as if 

17 the terms ‘qualifying child’ and ‘qualifying children’, 

18 within the meaning of this section, were substituted 

19 for the terms ‘qualifying individual’ and ‘qualifying 

20 individuals’, respectively. 

21 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES.—Rules similar to the 

22 rules of paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (9), 

23 and (10) of section 21(e) shall apply. 

24 ‘‘(d) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No deduction shall be al2 lowed under this section for any expense with re3 spect to which a credit is claimed by the taxpayer 

4 under section 21. 

5 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION RULE.—For coordination 

6 with a dependent care assistance program, see sec7 tion 129(e)(7).’’. 

8 (b) DEDUCTION ALLOWED ABOVE-THE-LINE.—Sub9 section (a) of section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

10 1986 is amended by inserting after paragraph (21) the 

11 following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(22) CHILD CARE DEDUCTION.—The deduc13 tion allowed by section 224.’’. 

14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (e) of 

15 section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

16 amended by inserting ‘‘, or as a deduction under section 

17 224,’’ after ‘‘section 21’’. 

18 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

19 for part VII of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the item 

21 relating to section 224 and by inserting the following new 

22 items: 

‘‘Sec. 224. Child care deduction. 

‘‘Sec. 225. Cross reference.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to expenses paid or incurred in 

3 taxable years beginning after December 31, 2016. 

Æ 


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