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Union Calendar No. 277

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 6

[Report No. 106–493]

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. MCINTOSH, Ms. DANNER, Mr. RILEY, Mr.

HERGER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BAKER, Mr.

BALLENGER, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. BARTLETT of

Maryland, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BEREUTER, Ms. BIGGERT, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BLUNT, Mr.

BOEHLERT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BONILLA, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BRADY of

Texas, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. BUYER, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CANNON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr.

CHAMBLISS, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. COBLE, Mr.

COBURN, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. COX, Mr. CRANE, Mrs.

CUBIN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DEAL of Georgia,

Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DREIER, Mr. DUNCAN, Ms. DUNN, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. ENGLISH, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. EWING, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, Mr.

FOSSELLA, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GILCHREST,

Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. GOSS, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. HAYES, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr.

HILL of Montana, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. HORN, Mr.

HOSTETTLER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.

ISTOOK, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. SAM JOHNSON

of Texas, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KING, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. KOLBE, Mr.

KUYKENDALL, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.

LAZIO, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. LINDER, Mr. LIPINSKI,

Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr.
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METCALF, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr.

MCKEON, Mr. NEY, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr.

OSE, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PEASE, Mr. PETRI, Mr.

PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POMBO, Mr.

PORTER, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr.

RAMSTAD, Mr. REGULA, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. ROGERS, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr.

SHAYS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SHAW, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. SHOWS, Mr.

SHUSTER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. SMITH of New

Jersey, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STEARNS,

Mr. STUMP, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. TALENT, Mr. TANCREDO,

Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WALDEN,

Mr. WAMP, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. WELDON of

Florida, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mrs. WILSON, Mr. WOLF, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DELAY, Mr. YOUNG of Florida,

Mr. QUINN, Mr. ROGAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.

BASS, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. COOK, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. EVERETT,

Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mrs.

NORTHUP, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. KINGSTON,

Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. CONDIT, Ms.

STABENOW, Mr. FORD, Mr. WICKER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.

CRAMER, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. KASICH,

Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. RAHALL) introduced the following bill;

which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

FEBRUARY 7, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. LUCAS of Kentucky, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina,

Mr. HOBSON, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. GORDON, Mr.

MEEKS of New York, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. VITTER, Mr. HOLT, Mr.

SANDLIN, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. PICKETT, Mr. THOMAS, and Mr.

CAMP

FEBRUARY 7, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 10, 1999]

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate

the marriage penalty by providing that the income tax
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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, ETC.

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

5 ‘‘Marriage Tax Penalty Relief Act of 2000’’.

6 (b) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment

7 made by this Act shall be treated as a change in a rate

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

9 Code of 1986.

10 SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN STAND11 ARD DEDUCTION.

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

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard

14 deduction) is amended—

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

16 and inserting ‘‘200 percent of the dollar amount in

17 effect under subparagraph (C) for the taxable year’’,

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

19 (B),

20 (3) by striking ‘‘in the case of’’ and all that fol21 lows in subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘in any

22 other case.’’, and

23 (4) by striking subparagraph (D).
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1 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

2 (1) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f )(6) of such

3 Code is amended by striking ‘‘(other than with’’ and

4 all that follows through ‘‘shall be applied’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘(other than with respect to sections 63(c)(4) and

6 151(d)(4)(A)) shall be applied’’.

7 (2) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) of such Code

8 is amended by adding at the end the following flush

9 sentence:

10 ‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply to the

11 amount referred to in paragraph (2)(A).’’.

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

13 section shall apply to taxable years beginning after Decem14 ber 31, 2000.

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

16 BRACKET; REPEAL OF REDUCTION OF RE17 FUNDABLE TAX CREDITS.

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

19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to adjustments in

20 tax tables so that inflation will not result in tax increases)

21 is amended by adding at the end the following new para22 graph:

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

24 PERCENT BRACKET.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to taxable

2 years beginning after December 31, 2002, in pre3 scribing the tables under paragraph (1)—

4 ‘‘(i) the maximum taxable income in

5 the lowest rate bracket in the table con6 tained in subsection (a) (and the minimum

7 taxable income in the next higher taxable

8 income bracket in such table) shall be the

9 applicable percentage of the maximum tax10 able income in the lowest rate bracket in the

11 table contained in subsection (c) (after any

12 other adjustment under this subsection),

13 and

14 ‘‘(ii) the comparable taxable income

15 amounts in the table contained in subsection (d) shall be 1 16 ⁄2 of the amounts deter17 mined under clause (i).

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For pur19 poses of subparagraph (A), the applicable per20 centage shall be determined in accordance with

21 the following table:

‘‘For taxable years beginning The applicable

in calendar year— percentage is—

2003 .................................................................................... 170.3

2004 .................................................................................... 173.8

2005 .................................................................................... 183.5

2006 .................................................................................... 184.3

2007 .................................................................................... 187.9

2008 and thereafter ........................................................... 200.0.
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1 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount deter2 mined under subparagraph (A)(i) is not a mul3 tiple of $50, such amount shall be rounded to the

4 next lowest multiple of $50.’’.

5 (b) REPEAL OF REDUCTION OF REFUNDABLE TAX

6 CREDITS.—

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

8 amended by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating

9 paragraph (3) as paragraph (2).

10 (2) Section 32 of such Code is amended by strik11 ing subsection (h).

12 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—

13 (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 1(f )(2) of such

14 Code is amended by inserting ‘‘except as provided in

15 paragraph (8),’’ before ‘‘by increasing’’.

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

17 such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘PHASEOUT OF

18 MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET;’’ be19 fore ‘‘ADJUSTMENTS’’.

20 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para22 graph (2), the amendments made by this section shall

23 apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,

24 2002.
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1 (2) REPEAL OF REDUCTION OF REFUNDABLE TAX

2 CREDITS.—The amendments made by subsection (b)

3 shall apply to taxable years beginning after December

4 31, 2001.

5 SEC. 4. MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF FOR EARNED INCOME

6 CREDIT.

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

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to percentages

9 and amounts) is amended—

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

11 inserting ‘‘AMOUNTS.—

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), the earned’’, and

14 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a

17 joint return, the phaseout amount determined

18 under subparagraph (A) shall be increased by

19 $2,000.’’.

20 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Paragraph (1)(B) of

21 section 32( j) of such Code (relating to inflation adjust22 ments) is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter24 mined under section 1(f )(3) for the calendar
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1 year in which the taxable year begins,

2 determined—

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of amounts in sub4 sections (b)(2)(A) and (i)(1), by sub5 stituting ‘calendar year 1995’ for ‘calendar

6 year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof,

7 and

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

9 in subsection (b)(2)(B), by substituting ‘cal10 endar year 2000’ for ‘calendar year 1992’

11 in subparagraph (B) of such section 1.’’.

12 (c) ROUNDING.—Section 32( j)(2)(A) of such Code (re13 lating to rounding) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection

14 (b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(A) (after being in15 creased under subparagraph (B) thereof)’’.

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

17 section shall apply to taxable years beginning after Decem18 ber 31, 2000.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the marriage

penalty by providing for adjustments to the standard deduction, 15-percent rate bracket, and earned income

credit and to repeal the reduction of the refundable tax

credits.’’.

Union Calendar No. 277

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 6

[Report No. 106–493]

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to

eliminate the marriage penalty by providing thatthe income tax rate bracket amounts, and theamount of the standard deduction, for joint returns shall be twice the amounts applicable tounmarried individuals.

FEBRUARY 7, 2000

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed