II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2139 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to simplify the earned income 

tax credit eligibility requirements regarding filing status, presence of 

children, investment income, and work and immigrant status. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 16, 2005 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) 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 simplify 

the earned income tax credit eligibility requirements regarding filing status, presence of children, investment 

income, and work and immigrant status. 

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 ‘‘Earned Income Tax 

5 Credit Simplification Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF ABANDONED SPOUSE RULE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to eligible individual) is 
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1 amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph: 

3 ‘‘(H) CERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV4 ING APART.—For purposes of this section, an 

5 individual who— 

6 ‘‘(i) is married (within the meaning of 

7 section 7703(a)) and files a separate re8 turn for the taxable year, 

9 ‘‘(ii) lives with a qualifying child of 

10 the individual for more than one-half of 

11 such taxable year, and 

12 ‘‘(iii) during the last 6 months of such 

13 taxable year, does not have the same prin14 cipal place of abode as the individual’s 

15 spouse, shall not be considered as mar16 ried.’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) The last sentence of section 32(c)(1)(A) of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘section 7703’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

21 7703(a)’’. 

22 (2) Section 32(d) of such Code is amended by 

23 striking ‘‘In the case of an individual who is married 

24 (within the meaning of section 7703)’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘In the case of an individual who is married (within 
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1 the meaning of section 7703(a)) and is not described 

2 in subsection (c)(1)(H)’’. 

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

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 December 31, 2005. 

6 SEC. 3. SIMPLIFICATION OF RULES REGARDING PRESENCE 

7 OF QUALIFYING CHILD. 

8 (a) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR WORKER

9 WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALIFYING CHILD

10 CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF FAMILY.—Section 

11 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating 

12 to eligible individual), as amended by this Act, is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(I) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

15 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF

16 QUALIFYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

17 MEMBER OF FAMILY.— 

18 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro19 vided in clause (ii), in the case of 2 or 

20 more eligible individuals who may claim for 

21 such taxable year the same individual as a 

22 qualifying child, if such individual is 

23 claimed as a qualifying child by such an el24 igible individual, then any other such eligi25 ble individual who does not make such a 
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1 claim of such child or of any other quali2 fying child may be considered an eligible 

3 individual without a qualifying child for 

4 purposes of the credit allowed under this 

5 section for such taxable year. 

6 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION IF QUALIFYING

7 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indi8 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

9 any taxable year by an eligible individual 

10 who is a parent of such child, then no 

11 other parent of such child who does not 

12 make such a claim of such child or of any 

13 other qualifying child may be considered 

14 an eligible individual without a qualifying 

15 child for purposes of the credit allowed 

16 under this section for such taxable year.’’. 

17 (b) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR WORKER

18 WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALIFYING CHILDREN

19 DO NOT HAVE VALID SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.—Sub20 paragraph (G) of section 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

21 Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(G) INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT INCLUDE

23 TIN, ETC., OF ANY QUALIFYING CHILD.—In the 

24 case of any eligible individual who has one or 

25 more qualifying children, if no qualifying child 
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1 of such individual is taken into account under 

2 subsection (b) by reason of paragraph (3)(D), 

3 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

4 section, such individual may be considered an 

5 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 

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

7 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

8 December 31, 2005. 

9 SEC. 4. ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT IN10 COME TEST. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 of the Internal Rev12 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection (i). 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 December 31, 2005. 

16 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF VALID TAXPAYER IDENTIFICATION 

17 NUMBER FOR EARNED INCOME CREDIT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(m) of the Internal 

19 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(m) IDENTIFICATION NUMBERS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Solely for purposes of sub22 sections (c)(1)(E) and (c)(3)(D), a taxpayer identi23 fication number means a social security number as24 signed by the Social Security Administration. 

25 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.— 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a 

2 credit under this section, the return of tax for 

3 the taxable year must clearly indicate that any 

4 alien with earned income possesses a social se5 curity number assigned by the Social Security 

6 Administration which is authorized for employ7 ment purposes. 

8 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—When a married 

9 couple files a joint return, and one spouse’s so10 cial security number is authorized for employ11 ment and the other spouse’s social security 

12 number is not authorized for employment pur13 poses, a credit under this section is only avail14 able if the return of tax for the taxable year 

15 clearly indicates that the earned income is at16 tributable only to the spouse whose social secu17 rity number is authorized for employment pur18 poses.’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 December 31, 2005. 

22 (c) NOTICE REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas24 ury shall make reasonable efforts to provide at least 

25 3 months advance notification to households likely to 
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1 be affected by the amendment made by subsection 

2 (a) so that individuals eligible to obtain an employ3 ment-authorized social security number may under4 stand what action is needed to preserve their eligi5 bility for the earned income credit under section 32 

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

7 (2) RESPONSE IF CONDITIONS NOT SATIS8 FIED.—If a taxpayer appears to be otherwise eligible 

9 for the earned income credit under section 32 of 

10 such Code but has not satisfied the conditions of 

11 subsection (m)(2) of such section, the Secretary of 

12 the Treasury shall send a mathematical or clerical 

13 error notice under section 6213(b)(1) of such Code 

14 informing the taxpayer of the actions needed to es15 tablish eligibility for such credit and of the option of 

16 filing an amended tax return if eligibility for such 

17 credit cannot be established within the response pe18 riod for such mathematical or clerical error notice. 

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