II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4488 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow deductions for unreimbursed business expenses, dependent care expenses, and elementary 

school education expenses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

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 allow deductions for unreimbursed business expenses, dependent care 

expenses, and elementary school education 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tax Relief for Families 

5 Suffering from Government-Mandated Shutdowns Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN BUSI2 NESS EXPENSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(1) of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘, if such 

5 trade or business does not consist of the performance of 

6 services by the taxpayer as an employee’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) Section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 is amended— 

10 (A) in subsection (a), by striking para11 graph (2), and 

12 (B) by striking subsections (b), (c), and 

13 (d) and redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

14 subsections (c) and (d), respectively. 

15 (2) Section 162(o) of such Code is amended— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘such services’’ and all 

18 that follows through ‘‘allowable as a deduc19 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘such services, the 

20 amount allowable as a deduction’’, 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

22 a period, and 

23 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B), 

24 and 

25 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesig26 nating paragraph (3) as paragraph (2). 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2019. 

4 SEC. 3. DEDUCTION FOR CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE EX5 PENSES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap7 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

8 by redesignating section 224 as section 225 and by insert9 ing after section 223 the following new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 224. HOUSEHOLD AND DEPENDENT CARE SERVICES 

11 NECESSARY FOR GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

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

14 the employment-related expenses (as defined in section 

15 21(b)(2)) paid by such individual during the taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH OTHER BENEFITS.—For 

17 purposes of subsection (a), there shall not be taken into 

18 account any expenses— 

19 ‘‘(1) which were excluded from gross income 

20 under section 129 for the taxable year, or 

21 ‘‘(2) which were taken into account in deter22 mining the amount of the credit allowed under sec23 tion 21 for the taxable year.’’. 


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1 (b) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTION.—Section 62(a) of 

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by insert3 ing after paragraph (22) the following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(23) HOUSEHOLD AND DEPENDENT CARE

5 SERVICES.—The deduction under section 224.’’. 

6 (c) ELECTION WITH RESPECT TO CREDIT.—Section 

7 21(e) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(11) ELECTION TO DISREGARD EXPENDI10 TURES.—Under such rules, and in such form and 

11 manner, as the Secretary may provide, a taxpayer 

12 may elect not to have this section apply with respect 

13 to any amount of employment-related expenses de14 termined by the taxpayer.’’. 

15 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of section 3 

16 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 

17 is amended by redesignating the item relating to section 

18 224 as relating to section 225 and by inserting after the 

19 item relating to section 223 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 224. Household and dependent care services necessary for gainful employment.’’. 

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

21 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

22 December 31, 2019. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEDUCTION FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

2 SCHOOL EXPENSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part VII of subchapter B of chap4 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended 

5 by section 3, is amended by redesignating section 225 as 

6 section 226 and by inserting after section 224 the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 225. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL EX9 PENSES. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, 

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

12 the sum of— 

13 ‘‘(1) the eligible elementary and secondary 

14 school tuition and related expenses paid by such in15 dividual during the taxable year, plus 

16 ‘‘(2) so much of the eligible elementary and sec17 ondary qualified expenses paid by such individual 

18 during the taxable year as does not exceed $1,000. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

21 SCHOOL TUITION AND RELATED EXPENSES.—The 

22 term ‘eligible elementary and secondary school tui23 tion and related expenses’ means, with respect to 

24 any dependent of the taxpayer— 

25 ‘‘(A) expenses for tuition, fees, academic 

26 tutoring, special needs services in the case of a 


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1 special needs individual, which are incurred in 

2 connection with the enrollment or attendance of 

3 such dependent of the taxpayer as an elemen4 tary or secondary school student at a public, 

5 private, or religious school, and 

6 ‘‘(B) expenses for room and board, uni7 forms, transportation, and supplementary items 

8 and services (including extended day programs) 

9 which are required or provided by a public, pri10 vate, or religious school in connection with such 

11 enrollment or attendance. 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY

13 QUALIFIED EXPENSES.—The term ‘eligible elemen14 tary and secondary qualified expenses’ means, with 

15 respect to any dependent of the taxpayer— 

16 ‘‘(A) expenses for books, supplies, and 

17 other equipment which are incurred in connec18 tion with the enrollment or attendance of such 

19 dependent as an elementary or secondary school 

20 student at a public, private, or religious school, 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) expenses for the purchase of any 

23 computer technology or equipment or internet 

24 access and related services, if such technology, 

25 equipment, or services are to be used by such 


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1 dependent or the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s 

2 spouse, or any other dependent of the taxpayer 

3 during any of the years such dependent is in 

4 school. 

5 ‘‘(3) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means any 

6 school (including a homeschool) which provides ele7 mentary education or secondary education (kinder8 garten through grade 12), as determined under 

9 State law. 

10 ‘‘(4) COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY OR EQUIP11 MENT.—The term ‘computer technology or equip12 ment’ means computer software (as defined by sec13 tion 197(e)(3)(B)), computer or peripheral equip14 ment (as defined by section 168(i)(2)(B)), and fiber 

15 optic cable related to computer use. 

16 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER BENEFITS.—For 

17 purposes of subsection (a), there shall not be taken into 

18 account any expenses which are not included in income 

19 under section 529 or 530.’’. 

20 (b) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTION.—Section 62(a) of 

21 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 

22 3, is amended by inserting after paragraph (23) the fol23 lowing new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(24) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

25 EXPENSES.—The deduction under section 225.’’. 


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1 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of section 3 

2 for part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code, 

3 as amended by section 3, is amended by redesignating the 

4 item relating to section 225 as relating to section 226 and 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 224 the fol6 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 225. Elementary and secondary school expenses.’’. 

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

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 December 31, 2019. 

10 SEC. 5. DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN INTERNET EXPENSES IN 

11 2020. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a) of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986, as amended by sections 3 and 4, is 

14 amended by inserting after paragraph (24) the following 

15 new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(25) INTERNET EXPENSES.—In the case of 

17 taxable years beginning in 2020, the amount (not to 

18 exceed $500) of expenses paid or incurred for access 

19 to the internet (including data charges).’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

21 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

22 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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