I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 902 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make improvements in 

the earned income tax credit. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Mr. NEAL (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. 

DELAURO, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. MCDERMOTT, 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. LEVIN, Ms. LINDA

T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. WELCH, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. KIND, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. DANNY

K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Mr. RUSH, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Ms. ESTY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 

KILDEE, and Ms. FUDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make 

improvements in the earned income tax credit. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Earned Income Tax Credit Improvement and Simplifica4 tion Act 2015’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Certain improvements in the earned income tax credit made permanent. 

Sec. 3. Strengthening the earned income tax credit for individuals with no 

qualifying children. 

Sec. 4. Taxpayer eligible for credit for individuals with no qualifying children 

if qualifying children do not have valid Social Security numbers. 

Sec. 5. Credit allowed in case of certain separated spouses. 

Sec. 6. Taxpayer eligible for credit without qualifying child if qualifying child 

claimed by another member of family. 

Sec. 7. Elimination of disqualified investment income test. 

7 SEC. 2. CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EARNED INCOME 

8 TAX CREDIT MADE PERMANENT. 

9 (a) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR THREE

10 OR MORE QUALIFYING CHILDREN MADE PERMANENT.— 

11 Section 32(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

12 is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(1) PERCENTAGES.—The credit percentage 

14 and the phaseout percentage shall be determined in 

15 accordance with the following table: 

‘‘In the case of 

an eligible individual with: 

The credit 

percentage is: 

The phaseout 

percentage is: 

1 qualifying child ........................................ 34 15.98

2 qualifying children ................................... 40 21.06

3 or more qualifying children ..................... 45 21.06

No qualifying children ................................ 7.65 7.65’’. 


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1 (b) REDUCTION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY MADE PER2 MANENT.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(b)(2)(B) of such 

4 Code is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a 

7 joint return filed by an eligible individual 

8 and such individual’s spouse, the phaseout 

9 amount determined under subparagraph 

10 (A) shall be increased by $5,000. 

11 ‘‘(ii) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In 

12 the case of any taxable year beginning 

13 after 2014, the $5,000 amount in clause 

14 (i) shall be increased by an amount equal 

15 to— 

16 ‘‘(I) such dollar amount, multi17 plied by 

18 ‘‘(II) the cost of living adjust19 ment determined under section 1(f)(3) 

20 for the calendar year in which the tax21 able year begins determined by sub22 stituting ‘calendar year 2009’ for ‘cal23 endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

24 thereof. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) ROUNDING.—Subparagraph (A) 

2 of subsection (j)(2) shall apply after taking 

3 into account any increase under clause 

4 (ii).’’. 

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

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

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

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CRED11 IT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO QUALIFYING 

12 CHILDREN. 

13 (a) CREDIT FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS OVER AGE

14 21.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the In16 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(G) SPECIAL RULE FOR WORKING INDI19 VIDUALS OVER AGE 20 AND WITHOUT QUALI20 FYING CHILD.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 

22 individual (or, if the individual is married, 

23 either the individual or the individual’s 

24 spouse) who— 


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1 ‘‘(I) has attained the age of 21 

2 but not attained age 25 before the 

3 close of the taxable year, and 

4 ‘‘(II) is not a full-time student at 

5 any time during the taxable year, 

6 paragraph (1)(A)(ii)(II) shall not apply for 

7 purposes of determining whether such indi8 vidual is an eligible individual. 

9 ‘‘(ii) STUDENT.—For purposes of this 

10 subparagraph, an individual shall be con11 sidered a full-time student if such individual is carrying more than 1 12 ⁄2 the normal 

13 full-time work load for the course of study 

14 the individual is pursuing.’’. 

15 (2) INFORMATION RETURN MATCHING.—Not 

16 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of 

17 this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall develop 

18 and implement procedures for checking an individ19 ual’s claim for a credit under section 32 of the In20 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, by reason of sub21 section (c)(1)(G) thereof, against any information 

22 return made with respect to such individual under 

23 section 6050S (relating to returns relating to higher 

24 education tuition and related expenses). 

25 (b) INCREASED CREDIT.— 


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1 (1) CREDIT PERCENTAGE AND PHASEOUT PER2 CENTAGE.—The table contained in section 

3 32(b)(1)(A) of such Code, as amended by this Act, 

4 is amended by striking ‘‘7.65’’ each place it appears 

5 and inserting ‘‘15.3’’. 

6 (2) EARNED INCOME AMOUNT AND PHASEOUT

7 AMOUNT.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The table contained in 

9 section 32(b)(2)(A) of such Code is amended— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$8,820’’, and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ and insert13 ing ‘‘$10,425’’. 

14 (B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Section 

15 32(j)(1)(B) of such Code is amended— 

16 (i) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

17 clause (iii)’’ in clause (i) before ‘‘in the 

18 case of amounts’’, 

19 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

20 clause (i), by striking the period at the end 

21 of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by 

22 adding at the end the following new clause: 

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

24 $10,425 amounts in subsection (b)(2)(A), 

25 by substituting ‘calendar year 2012’ for 


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1 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

2 of such section 1.’’. 

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

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 4. TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR INDIVID7 UALS WITH NO QUALIFYING CHILDREN IF 

8 QUALIFYING CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE VALID 

9 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1)(F) of the Inter11 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is 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— 

16 ‘‘(i) no qualifying child of such indi17 vidual is taken into account under sub18 section (b) by reason of paragraph (3)(D), 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) no child of such individual is 

21 taken into account for purposes of any 

22 other child tax benefit under this chapter, 

23 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

24 section, such individual may be considered an 

25 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2014. 

4 SEC. 5. CREDIT ALLOWED IN CASE OF CERTAIN SEPA5 RATED SPOUSES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(d) of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—In 

9 the case of’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘MARRIED

10 INDIVIDUALS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of’’, and 

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

13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR SEPARATED

15 SPOUSE.—An individual shall not be treated as mar16 ried for purposes of this section if such individual— 

17 ‘‘(A) is married (within the meaning of 

18 section 7703(a)) and files a separate return for 

19 the taxable year, 

20 ‘‘(B) lives with a qualifying child of the in21 dividual for more than one-half of such taxable 

22 year, and 

23 ‘‘(C)(i) during the last 6 months such tax24 able year, does not have the same principal 

25 place of abode as the individual’s spouse, or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) has a legally binding separation 

2 agreement with the individual’s spouse and is 

3 not a member of the same household with the 

4 individual’s spouse by the end of the taxable 

5 year.’’. 

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

7 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 6. TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT WITHOUT QUALI10 FYING CHILD IF QUALIFYING CHILD 

11 CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF FAMILY. 

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

13 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

14 the following new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(G) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT

16 WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALIFYING

17 CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF FAM18 ILY.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If— 

20 ‘‘(I) an individual is claimed as a 

21 qualifying child by an eligible indi22 vidual for any taxable year of such eli23 gible individual beginning in a cal24 endar year, and 


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1 ‘‘(II) such individual is the quali2 fying child of another eligible indi3 vidual for any taxable year beginning 

4 in such calendar year, 

5 such other eligible individual may be treat6 ed as an eligible individual without a quali7 fying child for purposes of this section for 

8 such taxable year. 

9 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION FOR QUALIFYING

10 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indi11 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

12 any taxable year by a parent of such child, 

13 clause (i) shall not apply with respect to 

14 any other custodial parent of such child.’’. 

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

16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 7. ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT IN19 COME TEST. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 32 of the Internal Rev21 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subsection (i). 

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

23 (1) Section 32(j)(1)(B)(i) of such Code is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘subsections (b)(2)(A) and 

25 (i)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)(2)(A)’’. 


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1 (2) Section 32(j)(2) of such Code is amended— 

2 (A) by striking paragraph (2), and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘ROUNDING.—’’ and all 

4 that follows through ‘‘If any dollar amount’’ 

5 and inserting the following: ‘‘ROUNDING.—If 

6 any dollar amount’’. 

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

8 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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