I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1500 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase and make 

refundable the dependent care credit. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. PETERS 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 increase 

and make refundable the dependent care credit. 

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 ‘‘Helping Families Af5 ford to Work Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT. 

7 (a) INCREASE IN INCOMES ELIGIBLE FOR FULL

8 CREDIT.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$15,000’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘$20,000’’. 


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1 (b) INCREASE IN PERCENTAGE OF EXPENSES AL2 LOWABLE.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of such Code 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘50 

5 percent’’, and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘35 

7 percent’’. 

8 (c) INCREASE IN DOLLAR LIMIT ON AMOUNT CRED9 ITABLE.—Subsection (c) of section 21 of such Code is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ in paragraph (1) and 

12 inserting ‘‘$6,000’’, and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘$6,000’’ in paragraph (2) and 

14 inserting ‘‘$12,000’’. 

15 (d) CREDIT TO BE REFUNDABLE.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 21 of such Code is 

17 hereby moved to subpart C of part IV of subchapter 

18 A of chapter 1 of such Code (relating to refundable 

19 credits) and inserted after section 36A. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (A) Section 21 of such Code, as so moved, 

22 is redesignated as section 36B. 

23 (B) Paragraph (1) of section 36B(a) of 

24 such Code (as redesignated by paragraph (2)) 


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1 is amended by striking ‘‘this chapter’’ and in2 serting ‘‘this subtitle’’. 

3 (C) Paragraph (1) of section 23(f) of such 

4 Code is amended by striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘36B(e)’’. 

6 (D) Paragraph (6) of section 35(g) of such 

7 Code is amended by striking ‘‘21(e)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘36B(e)’’. 

9 (E) Subparagraph (C) of section 129(a)(2) 

10 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

11 21(e)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36B(e)’’. 

12 (F) Paragraph (2) of section 129(b) of 

13 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

14 21(d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36B(d)(2)’’. 

15 (G) Paragraph (1) of section 129(e) of 

16 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 

17 21(b)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36B(b)(2)’’. 

18 (H) Subsection (e) of section 213 of such 

19 Code is amended by striking ‘‘section 21’’ and 

20 inserting ‘‘section 36B’’. 

21 (I) Subparagraph (H) of section 

22 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘section 21’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36B’’. 


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1 (J) Subparagraph (L) of section 

2 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 

3 ‘‘section 21,’’ and inserting ‘‘section 36B,’’. 

4 (K) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of 

5 title 31, United States Code, is amended by in6 serting ‘‘36B,’’ after ‘‘36A,’’. 

7 (L) The table of sections for subpart C of 

8 part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the In9 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in10 serting after the item relating to section 36A 

11 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 36B. Expenses for household and dependent care services necessary for 

gainful employment.’’. 

12 (M) The table of sections for subpart A of 

13 such part IV is amended by striking the item 

14 relating to section 21. 

15 (e) CERTAIN PRIOR AMENDMENTS TO CREDIT MADE

16 PERMANENT.—Section 901 of the Economic Growth and 

17 Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 shall not apply to 

18 the amendments made by section 204 of such Act. 

19 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 December 31, 2008. 

Æ 


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