II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 836 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to strengthen the earned 

income tax credit and make permanent certain tax provisions under 

the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2013 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. 

ROCKEFELLER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

CARDIN, Mr. CASEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. COWAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. REED, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

HARKIN, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. 

SCHATZ, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. WARREN, 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. MURPHY) 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 strengthen 

the earned income tax credit and make permanent certain tax provisions under the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

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 ‘‘Working Families Tax 

5 Relief Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF AND MODIFICATIONS 

2 TO THE CHILD TAX CREDIT. 

3 (a) PERMANENT EXTENSION OF INCREASE IN RE4 FUNDABLE PORTION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Clause (i) of section 

6 24(d)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

7 is amended by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$3,000’’. 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (d) 

10 of section 24 of such Code is amended by striking 

11 paragraph (4). 

12 (3) ELIMINATION OF INFLATION ADJUST13 MENT.—Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code is 

14 amended by striking paragraph (3). 

15 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 24 of the 

16 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

17 the end the following new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(g) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

20 year beginning in a calendar year after 2012, the 

21 $1,000 amount in subsection (a) and each of the 

22 dollar amounts in subsection (b)(2) shall each be in23 creased by an amount equal to— 

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

25 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter26 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 


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1 year in which the taxable year begins, deter2 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2011’ for 

3 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

4 thereof. 

5 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—Any increase determined 

6 under the preceding sentence shall be rounded to the 

7 nearest multiple of $50.’’. 

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

9 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

10 December 31, 2012. 

11 SEC. 3. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF MODIFICATIONS TO 

12 EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT. 

13 (a) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR FAMI14 LIES WITH 3 OR MORE CHILDREN.—Paragraph (1) of 

15 section 32(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

16 amended by striking subparagraphs (B) and (C) and in17 serting the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(B) INCREASED CREDIT PERCENTAGE

19 FOR FAMILIES WITH 3 OR MORE QUALIFYING

20 CHILDREN.—In the case of an eligible indi21 vidual with 3 or more qualifying children, the 

22 table in subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 

23 substituting ‘45’ for ‘40’ in the second column 

24 thereof.’’. 

25 (b) JOINT RETURNS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

2 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘increased by’’ and all that fol4 lows and inserting ‘‘increased by $5,000.’’. 

5 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Clause (ii) of 

6 section 32(j)(1)(B) of such Code is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘$5,000’’, 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)(iii)’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(B)’’, and 

11 (C) by striking ‘‘calendar year 2007’’ and 

12 inserting ‘‘calendar year 2008’’. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 32(b)of 

14 such Code is amended by striking paragraph (3). 

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

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 December 31, 2012. 

18 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CRED19 IT. 

20 (a) INCREASED CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO

21 QUALIFYING CHILDREN.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table in subparagraph 

23 (A) of section 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ in the second col2 umn and inserting ‘‘$8,820’’, and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the last col4 umn and inserting ‘‘$10,425’’. 

5 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 

6 (B) of section 32(j)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code 

7 of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended— 

8 (A) in clause (i)— 

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘(except as provided 

10 in clause (iii))’’ after ‘‘(b)(2)(A)’’, and 

11 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

13 clause: 

14 ‘‘(iii) in the case of the $8,820 and 

15 $10,4250 amount in the table in sub16 section (b)(2)(A), by substituting ‘calendar 

17 year 2012’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub18 paragraph (B) of such section 1.’’. 

19 (b) CREDIT INCREASE AND REDUCTION IN PHASE20 OUT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO CHILDREN.—The table 

21 contained in section 32(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue 

22 Code of 1986 is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘7.65’’ in the second column of 

24 the third row and inserting ‘‘15.3’’, and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘7.65’’ in the third column of 

2 the third row and inserting ‘‘15.3’’. 

3 (c) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR CERTAIN CHILDLESS IN4 DIVIDUALS OVER AGE 21.—Subclause (II) of section 

5 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re6 lating to eligible individual) is amended by striking ‘‘age 

7 25’’ and inserting ‘‘age 21’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

10 December 31, 2012. 

11 SEC. 5. SIMPLIFYING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT. 

12 (a) MODIFICATION OF ABANDONED SPOUSE RULE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to eligible in15 dividual) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(G) CERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV18 ING APART.—For purposes of this section, an 

19 individual who— 

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

21 section 7703(a)) and files a separate re22 turn for the taxable year, 

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

24 the individual for more than one-half of 

25 such taxable year, and 


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1 ‘‘(iii)(I) during the last 6 months of 

2 such taxable year, does not have the same 

3 principal place of abode as the individual’s 

4 spouse, or 

5 ‘‘(II) has a legally binding separation 

6 agreement with the individual’s spouse and 

7 is not a member of the same household 

8 with the individual’s spouse by the end of 

9 the taxable year, 

10 shall not be considered as married.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (A) The last sentence of section 

13 32(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘section 7703’’ 

15 and inserting ‘‘section 7703(a)’’. 

16 (B) Section 32(d) of such Code is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘In the case of an individual who is 

18 married (within the meaning of section 7703)’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘In the case of an individual who 

20 is married (within the meaning of section 

21 7703(a)) and is not described in subsection 

22 (c)(1)(G)’’. 

23 (b) ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT

24 INCOME TEST.— 


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

2 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sub3 section (i). 

4 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (A) Section 32(j)(1)(B)(i) of such Code, as 

6 amended by this Act, is amended— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and in8 serting ‘‘subsection’’, and 

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘and (i)(1)’’. 

10 (B) Section 32(j)(2) of such Code is 

11 amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount in sub13 section (b)(2)(A) (after being increased under sub14 paragraph (B) thereof), after being increased under 

15 paragraph (1), is not a multiple of $10, such 

16 amount shall be rounded to the next nearest mul17 tiple of $10.’’. 

18 (c) SIMPLIFICATION OF RULES REGARDING PRES19 ENCE OF QUALIFYING CHILD.— 

20 (1) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

21 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI22 FYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF

23 FAMILY.—Section 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986 (relating to eligible individual), as 


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1 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

2 end the following new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(H) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT

4 FOR WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF

5 QUALIFYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

6 MEMBER OF FAMILY.— 

7 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro8 vided in clause (ii), in the case of 2 or 

9 more eligible individuals who may claim for 

10 such taxable year the same individual as a 

11 qualifying child, if such individual is 

12 claimed as a qualifying child by such an el13 igible individual, then any other such eligi14 ble individual who does not make such a 

15 claim of such child or of any other quali16 fying child may be considered an eligible 

17 individual without a qualifying child for 

18 purposes of the credit allowed under this 

19 section for such taxable year. 

20 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION IF QUALIFYING

21 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indi22 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

23 any taxable year by an eligible individual 

24 who is a parent of such child, then no 

25 other custodial parent of such child who 


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1 does not make such a claim of such child 

2 may be considered an eligible individual 

3 without a qualifying child for purposes of 

4 the credit allowed under this section for 

5 such taxable year.’’. 

6 (2) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

7 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI8 FYING CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE VALID SOCIAL SECU9 RITY NUMBER.—Subparagraph (F) of section 

10 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

11 amended to read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(F) INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT INCLUDE

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

14 case of any eligible individual who has one or 

15 more qualifying children, if no qualifying child 

16 of such individual is taken into account under 

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

18 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

19 section, such individual may be considered an 

20 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 

21 (d) EFFECTIVE DATES.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

23 December 31, 2012. 

Æ 


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