I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3475 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to assist in the support 

of children living in poverty by allowing a refundable credit to grandparents of those children for the purchase of household items for the 

benefit of those children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 

Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Ms. BASS, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. CLARKE of 

New York, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HONDA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RUSH, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. MAXINE

WATERS of California, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Mr. LOEBSACK) 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 assist 

in the support of children living in poverty by allowing 

a refundable credit to grandparents of those children 

for the purchase of household items for the benefit of 

those children, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Grandparents Tax 

3 Credit Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR HOUSEHOLD ITEMS 

5 PURCHASED BY GRANDPARENTS FOR 

6 GRANDCHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub8 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 (relating to refundable credits) is amended by insert10 ing after section 36B the following new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 36C. CREDIT FOR HOUSEHOLD ITEMS PURCHASED BY 

12 GRANDPARENTS FOR GRANDCHILDREN LIV13 ING IN POVERTY. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi15 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

16 imposed by this subtitle an amount equal to the amount 

17 paid or incurred by the taxpayer during the taxable year 

18 for household items for the benefit of any qualified child. 

19 ‘‘(b) MAXIMUM CREDIT.—The credit allowed by this 

20 section for the taxable year shall not exceed $500. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur22 poses of this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible 

24 individual’ means, with respect to any child, any in25 dividual who is a grandparent of such child. 


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1 ‘‘(2) HOUSEHOLD ITEMS.—The term ‘household 

2 items’ includes food, clothing, and other items typi3 cally used by or for the benefit of children. 

4 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED CHILD.—The term ‘qualified 

5 child’ means any individual if— 

6 ‘‘(A) such individual has not attained the 

7 age of 18 as of the close of the calendar year 

8 in which the taxable year of the taxpayer be9 gins, 

10 ‘‘(B) for more than one-half of such tax11 able year, such individual has the same prin12 cipal place of abode as— 

13 ‘‘(i) the taxpayer, and 

14 ‘‘(ii) at least 1 parent of such child, 

15 ‘‘(C) such parent is entitled to claim, and 

16 claims, a deduction for such child under section 

17 151 (relating to allowance of deductions for 

18 personal exemptions), 

19 ‘‘(D) the modified adjusted gross income 

20 (as defined in section 24(b)) of such parent (or 

21 parents in the case of a joint return) does not 

22 exceed 300 percent of the Federal poverty level 

23 (as determined in accordance with criteria es24 tablished by the Director of the Office of Man25 agement and Budget), and 


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1 ‘‘(E) such place of abode is in the United 

2 States. 

3 ‘‘(4) GRANDPARENTS.—An older individual 

4 shall be treated as a grandparent of another indi5 vidual only if such individual is— 

6 ‘‘(A) a biological descendant of the older 

7 individual, or 

8 ‘‘(B) an adopted child (within the meaning 

9 of section 152(f)(1)(B)) of a biological descend10 ant of the older individual. 

11 ‘‘(d) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A qualifying child shall not 

13 be taken into account under this section unless the 

14 taxpayer includes the name, age, and TIN of the 

15 qualifying child on the return of tax for the taxable 

16 year. 

17 ‘‘(2) OTHER METHODS.—The Secretary may 

18 prescribe other methods for providing the informa19 tion described in paragraph (1).’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 

22 amended by inserting ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 

23 (2) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 

24 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

25 ‘‘36C,’’ after ‘‘36B,’’. 


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1 (3) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

2 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

4 item relating to section 36C the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36C. Credit for household items purchased by grandparents for grandchildren living in poverty.’’. 

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

6 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

7 December 31, 2015. 

Æ 


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