II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1012 

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 20, 2015 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. REID, Mr. SCHUMER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. CASEY, Mr. CARPER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BENNET, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. NELSON, Mr. 

WARNER, Mr. KING, Mr. TESTER, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PETERS, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. BOXER, Ms. 

WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. COONS, Mr. FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. REED, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

UDALL, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. KAINE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, 

and Mrs. MCCASKILL) 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Working Families Tax 

3 Relief Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF AND MODIFICATIONS 

5 TO THE CHILD TAX CREDIT. 

6 (a) PERMANENT EXTENSION OF INCREASE IN RE7 FUNDABLE PORTION.— 

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

9 24(d)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

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

11 ‘‘$3,000’’. 

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

13 of section 24 of such Code is amended by striking 

14 paragraph (4). 

15 (3) ELIMINATION OF INFLATION ADJUST16 MENT.—Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code is 

17 amended by striking paragraph (3). 

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

19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following new subsection: 

21 ‘‘(g) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 

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

23 year beginning in a calendar year after 2014, the 

24 $1,000 amount in subsection (a) and each of the 

25 dollar amounts in subsection (b)(2) shall each be in26 creased by an amount equal to— 


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

2 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter3 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

4 year in which the taxable year begins, deter5 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2011’ for 

6 ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) 

7 thereof. 

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

9 under the preceding sentence shall be rounded to the 

10 nearest multiple of $50.’’. 

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

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 December 31, 2014. 

14 SEC. 3. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF MODIFICATIONS TO 

15 EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT. 

16 (a) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR FAMI17 LIES WITH 3 OR MORE CHILDREN.—Paragraph (1) of 

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

19 amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘The credit’’ and inserting the 

21 following: 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The credit’’, and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCREASED CREDIT PERCENTAGE

2 FOR FAMILIES WITH 3 OR MORE QUALIFYING

3 CHILDREN.—In the case of an eligible indi4 vidual with 3 or more qualifying children, the 

5 table in subparagraph (A) shall be applied by 

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

7 thereof.’’. 

8 (b) JOINT RETURNS.— 

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

10 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

11 amended by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘$5,000.’’. 

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

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

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

16 ‘‘$5,000’’, 

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

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

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

20 inserting ‘‘calendar year 2008’’. 

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

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

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

24 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

25 December 31, 2014. 


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1 SEC. 4. STRENGTHENING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CRED2 IT. 

3 (a) INCREASED CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO

4 QUALIFYING CHILDREN.— 

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

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

7 of 1986 is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ in the second col9 umn and inserting ‘‘$8,820’’, and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the last col11 umn and inserting ‘‘$10,425’’. 

12 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 

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

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

15 (A) in clause (i)— 

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

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

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

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

20 clause: 

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

22 $10,4250 amount in the table in sub23 section (b)(2)(A), by substituting ‘calendar 

24 year 2011’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in sub25 paragraph (B) of such section 1.’’. 


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1 (b) CREDIT INCREASE AND REDUCTION IN PHASE2 OUT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO CHILDREN.—The table 

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

4 Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended— 

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

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

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

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

9 (c) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR CERTAIN CHILDLESS IN10 DIVIDUALS OVER AGE 21.—Subclause (II) of section 

11 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘age 25’’ and inserting ‘‘age 21’’. 

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

14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 December 31, 2014. 

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

17 (a) MODIFICATION OF ABANDONED SPOUSE RULE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

20 at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(G) CERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV22 ING APART.—For purposes of this section, an 

23 individual who— 


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

2 section 7703(a)) and files a separate re3 turn for the taxable year, 

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

5 the individual for more than one-half of 

6 such taxable year, and 

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

8 such taxable year, does not have the same 

9 principal place of abode as the individual’s 

10 spouse, or 

11 ‘‘(II) has a legally binding separation 

12 agreement with the individual’s spouse and 

13 is not a member of the same household 

14 with the individual’s spouse by the end of 

15 the taxable year, 

16 shall not be considered as married.’’. 

17 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (A) The last sentence of section 

19 32(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘section 7703’’ 

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

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

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

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

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


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1 is married (within the meaning of section 

2 7703(a)) and is not described in subsection 

3 (c)(1)(G)’’. 

4 (b) ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT

5 INCOME TEST.— 

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

7 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sub8 section (i). 

9 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

11 amended by this Act, is amended— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and in13 serting ‘‘subsection’’, and 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘and (i)(1)’’. 

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

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount in sub18 section (b)(2)(A) (after being increased under sub19 paragraph (B) thereof), after being increased under 

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

21 amount shall be rounded to the next nearest mul22 tiple of $10.’’. 

23 (c) SIMPLIFICATION OF RULES REGARDING PRES24 ENCE OF QUALIFYING CHILD.— 


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1 (1) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

2 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI3 FYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF

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

5 Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(H) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT

8 FOR WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF

9 QUALIFYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

10 MEMBER OF FAMILY.— 

11 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro12 vided in clause (ii), in the case of 2 or 

13 more eligible individuals who may claim for 

14 such taxable year the same individual as a 

15 qualifying child, if such individual is 

16 claimed as a qualifying child by such an el17 igible individual, then any other such eligi18 ble individual who does not make such a 

19 claim of such child or of any other quali20 fying child may be considered an eligible 

21 individual without a qualifying child for 

22 purposes of the credit allowed under this 

23 section for such taxable year. 

24 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION IF QUALIFYING

25 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Apr 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1012.IS S1012

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1 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

2 any taxable year by an eligible individual 

3 who is a parent of such child, then no 

4 other custodial parent of such child who 

5 does not make such a claim of such child 

6 may be considered an eligible individual 

7 without a qualifying child for purposes of 

8 the credit allowed under this section for 

9 such taxable year.’’. 

10 (2) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

11 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI12 FYING CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE VALID SOCIAL SECU13 RITY NUMBER.—Subparagraph (F) of section 

14 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

15 amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘(F) INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT INCLUDE

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

18 case of any eligible individual who has one or 

19 more qualifying children, if no qualifying child 

20 of such individual is taken into account under 

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

22 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

23 section, such individual may be considered an 

24 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2014. 

Æ 


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