H. R. 4810

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

An Act

To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 103(a)(1) of the concurrent resolution

on the budget for fiscal year 2001.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2000’’.

(b) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment made by this

Act shall be treated as a change in a rate of tax for purposes

of section 15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN STANDARD DEDUCTION.

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

Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard deduction) is amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting

‘‘200 percent of the dollar amount in effect under subparagraph

(C) for the taxable year’’;

(2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (B);

(3) by striking ‘‘in the case of’’ and all that follows in

subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘in any other case.’’; and

(4) by striking subparagraph (D).

(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

(1) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f )(6) of such Code is

amended by striking ‘‘(other than with’’ and all that follows

through ‘‘shall be applied’’ and inserting ‘‘(other than with

respect to sections 63(c)(4) and 151(d)(4)(A)) shall be applied’’.

(2) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) of such Code is amended

by adding at the end the following flush sentence:

‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply to the amount referred

to in paragraph (2)(A).’’.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.

SEC. 3. PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f ) of section 1 of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to adjustments in tax tables so

that inflation will not result in tax increases) is amended by adding

at the end the following new paragraph:

‘‘(8) PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT

BRACKET.—
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999, in prescribing the tables

under paragraph (1)—

‘‘(i) the maximum taxable income in the lowest

rate bracket in the table contained in subsection (a)

(and the minimum taxable income in the next higher

taxable income bracket in such table) shall be the

applicable percentage of the maximum taxable income

in the lowest rate bracket in the table contained in

subsection (c) (after any other adjustment under this

subsection), and

‘‘(ii) the comparable taxable income amounts in

the table contained in subsection (d) shall be 1⁄2 of

the amounts determined under clause (i).

‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes of

subparagraph (A), the applicable percentage shall be determined in accordance with the following table:

‘‘For taxable years beginning The applicable

in calendar year— percentage is—

2000 ............................................................................................. 170

2001 ............................................................................................. 173

2002 ............................................................................................. 178

2003 ............................................................................................. 183

2004 and thereafter ................................................................... 200.

‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount determined under

subparagraph (A)(i) is not a multiple of $50, such amount

shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50.’’.

(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

(1) Subparagraph (A) of section 1(f )(2) of such Code is

amended by inserting ‘‘except as provided in paragraph (8),’’

before ‘‘by increasing’’.

(2) The heading for subsection (f ) of section 1 of such

Code is amended by inserting ‘‘PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET;’’ before ‘‘ADJUSTMENTS’’.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.

SEC. 4. MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF FOR EARNED INCOME CREDIT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 32(b) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to percentages and amounts) is

amended—

(1) by striking ‘‘AMOUNTS.—The earned’’ and inserting

‘‘AMOUNTS.—

‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B), the

earned’’; and

(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a joint return,

the phaseout amount determined under subparagraph (A)

shall be increased by $2,000.’’.

(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Paragraph (1)(B) of section 32( j)

of such Code (relating to inflation adjustments) is amended to

read as follows:

‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under

section 1(f )(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable

year begins, determined—
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‘‘(i) in the case of amounts in subsections (b)(2)(A)

and (i)(1), by substituting ‘calendar year 1995’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) of section 1(f )(3),

and

‘‘(ii) in the case of the $2,000 amount in subsection

(b)(2)(B), by substituting ‘calendar year 1999’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) of section

1(f )(3).’’.

(c) ROUNDING.—Section 32( j)(2)(A) of such Code (relating to

rounding) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’ and inserting

‘‘subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2) (after being increased under

subparagraph (B) thereof )’’.

(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.

SEC. 5. ALLOWANCE OF NONREFUNDABLE PERSONAL CREDITS

AGAINST REGULAR AND MINIMUM TAX LIABILITY.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 26 of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to limitation based on tax liability;

definition of tax liability) is amended to read as follows:

‘‘(a) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF TAX.—The aggregate

amount of credits allowed by this subpart for the taxable year

shall not exceed the sum of—

‘‘(1) the taxpayer’s regular tax liability for the taxable

year reduced by the foreign tax credit allowable under section

27(a), and

‘‘(2) the tax imposed for the taxable year by section 55(a).’’.

(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

(1) Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code is amended

by striking paragraph (2) and by redesignating paragraph (3)

as paragraph (2).

(2) Section 32 of such Code is amended by striking subsection (h).

(3) Section 904 of such Code is amended by striking subsection (h) and by redesignating subsections (i), ( j), and (k)

as subsections (h), (i), and ( j), respectively.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section

shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2001.

SEC. 6. ESTIMATED TAX.

The amendments made by this Act shall not be taken into

account under section 6654 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986

(relating to failure to pay estimated tax) in determining the amount

of any installment required to be paid before October 1, 2000.

SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE WITH BUDGET ACT.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), all

amendments made by this Act which are in effect on September

30, 2005, shall cease to apply as of the close of September 30,

2005.
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(b) SUNSET FOR CERTAIN PROVISIONS ABSENT SUBSEQUENT

LEGISLATION.—The amendments made by sections 2, 3, 4, and 5

of this Act shall not apply to any taxable year beginning after

December 31, 2004.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.