I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4708 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a nonrefundable 

credit for working family caregivers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2016 

Mr. REED (for himself and Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California) 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 provide 

a nonrefundable credit for working family caregivers. 

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 ‘‘Credit for Caring Act 

5 of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR WORKING FAMILY CAREGIVERS. 

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

9 1986 is amended by inserting after section 25D the fol10 lowing new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 25E. WORKING FAMILY CAREGIVERS. 

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli3 gible caregiver, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

4 the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an 

5 amount equal to 30 percent of the qualified expenses paid 

6 by the taxpayer during the taxable year to the extent that 

7 such expenses exceed $2,000. 

8 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount allowed as a 

10 credit under subsection (a) for the taxable year shall 

11 not exceed $3,000. 

12 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—In the 

13 case of any taxable year beginning after 2016, the 

14 dollar amount contained in paragraph (1) shall be 

15 increased by an amount equal to the product of— 

16 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, and 

17 ‘‘(B) the medical care cost adjustment de18 termined under section 213(d)(10)(B)(ii) for 

19 the calendar year in which the taxable year be20 gins, determined by substituting ‘2015’ for 

21 ‘1996’ in subclause (II) thereof. 

22 If any increase determined under the preceding sen23 tence is not a multiple of $50, such increase shall 

24 be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50. 


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1 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE CAREGIVER.—For purposes of this 

2 section, the term ‘eligible caregiver’ means an individual 

3 who— 

4 ‘‘(1) during the taxable year pays or incurs eli5 gible expenses in connection with providing care for 

6 a qualified care recipient, and 

7 ‘‘(2) has earned income (as defined in section 

8 32(c)(2)) for the taxable year in excess of $7,500. 

9 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED CARE RECIPIENT.—For purposes of 

10 this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified care re12 cipient’ means, with respect to any taxable year, any 

13 individual who— 

14 ‘‘(A) is the spouse of the eligible caregiver, 

15 or any other person who bears a relationship to 

16 the eligible caregiver described in any of sub17 paragraphs (A) through (H) of section 

18 152(d)(2), 

19 ‘‘(B) has been certified, before the due 

20 date for filing the return of tax for the taxable 

21 year, by a licensed health care practitioner (as 

22 defined in section 7702B(c)(4)) as being an in23 dividual with long-term care needs described in 

24 paragraph (3) for a period— 


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1 ‘‘(i) which is at least 180 consecutive 

2 days, and 

3 ‘‘(ii) a portion of which occurs within 

4 the taxable year. 

5 ‘‘(2) PERIOD FOR MAKING CERTIFICATION.— 

6 Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(B), a certification 

7 shall not be treated as valid unless it is made within 

the 391 8 ⁄2-month period ending on such due date (or 

9 such other period as the Secretary prescribes). 

10 ‘‘(3) INDIVIDUALS WITH LONG-TERM CARE

11 NEEDS.—An individual is described in this para12 graph if the individual meets any of the following re13 quirements: 

14 ‘‘(A) The individual is at least 6 years of 

15 age and— 

16 ‘‘(i) is unable to perform (without 

17 substantial assistance from another indi18 vidual) at least 2 activities of daily living 

19 (as defined in section 7702B(c)(2)(B)) due 

20 to a loss of functional capacity, or 

21 ‘‘(ii) requires substantial supervision 

22 to protect such individual from threats to 

23 health and safety due to severe cognitive 

24 impairment and is unable to perform, with25 out reminding or cueing assistance, at 


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1 least 1 activity of daily living (as so de2 fined) or to the extent provided in regula3 tions prescribed by the Secretary (in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Health and 

5 Human Services), is unable to engage in 

6 age appropriate activities. 

7 ‘‘(B) The individual is at least 2 years of 

8 age but not 6 years of age and is unable due 

9 to a loss of functional capacity to perform 

10 (without substantial assistance from another in11 dividual) at least 2 of the following activities: 

12 eating, transferring, or mobility. 

13 ‘‘(C) The individual is under 2 years of age 

14 and requires specific durable medical equipment 

15 by reason of a severe health condition or re16 quires a skilled practitioner trained to address 

17 the individual’s condition to be available if the 

18 individual’s parents or guardians are absent. 

19 ‘‘(e) QUALIFIED EXPENSES.—For purposes of this 

20 section— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified ex22 penses’ means expenditures for goods, services, and 

23 supports that assist with activities of daily living (as 

24 defined in section 7702B(c)(2)(B)) and instrumental 

25 activities of daily living (as defined in section 


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1 1915(k)(6)(F) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1396n(k)(6)(F)) provided to a qualified care recipi3 ent described and are not incurred by individuals 

4 who do not need such assistance. 

5 ‘‘(2) ADJUSTMENT FOR OTHER TAX BENE6 FITS.—The amount of qualified expenses otherwise 

7 taken into account under paragraph (1) with respect 

8 to an individual shall be reduced by the sum of any 

9 amounts paid for the benefit of such individual for 

10 the taxable year which are— 

11 ‘‘(A) taken into account under section 21 

12 or 213, or 

13 ‘‘(B) excluded from gross income under 

14 section 129, 223(f), or 529A(c)(1)(B). 

15 ‘‘(3) GOODS, SERVICES, AND SUPPORTS.—For 

16 purposes of paragraph (1), goods, services and sup17 ports (as defined by the Secretary) include— 

18 ‘‘(A) human assistance, supervision, cueing 

19 and standby assistance, 

20 ‘‘(B) assistive technologies and devices (in21 cluding remote health monitoring), 

22 ‘‘(C) environmental modifications (includ23 ing home modifications), 

24 ‘‘(D) health maintenance tasks (such as 

25 medication management), 


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1 ‘‘(E) information, 

2 ‘‘(F) transportation of the qualified care 

3 recipient, 

4 ‘‘(G) non-health items (such as inconti5 nence supplies), 

6 ‘‘(H) travel costs of the eligible caregiver 

7 related to caring for a qualified care recipient, 

8 ‘‘(I) lost wages for unpaid time off due to 

9 caring for a qualified care recipient as verified 

10 by an employer, 

11 ‘‘(J) coordination of and services for peo12 ple who live in their own home, a residential 

13 setting, or a nursing facility, as well as the cost 

14 of care in these or other locations, and 

15 ‘‘(K) supports provided to family members 

16 and other unpaid caregivers. 

17 ‘‘(4) HUMAN ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘human 

18 assistance’ includes the costs of a direct care worker. 

19 ‘‘(5) DOCUMENTATION.—An expense shall not 

20 be taken into account under this section unless the 

21 eligible caregiver substantiates such expense under 

22 such regulations or guidance as the Secretary shall 

23 provide. 

24 ‘‘(6) MILEAGE RATE.—For purposes of this sec25 tion, the mileage rate for the use of a passenger 


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1 automobile shall be the standard mileage rate used 

2 to calculate the deductible costs of operating an 

3 automobile for medical purposes. Such rate may be 

4 used in lieu of actual automobile-related travel ex5 penses. 

6 ‘‘(7) COORDINATION WITH ABLE ACCOUNTS.— 

7 Qualified expenses for a taxable year shall not in8 clude contributions to an ABLE account (as defined 

9 in section 529A). 

10 ‘‘(f) PHASE-OUT BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS IN11 COME.—For purposes of this section— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the credit 

13 allowable under subsection (a) shall be reduced (but 

14 not below zero) by $100 for each $1,000 (or fraction 

15 thereof) by which the taxpayer’s modified adjusted 

16 gross income exceeds the threshold amount. 

17 ‘‘(2) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.— 

18 The term ‘modified adjusted gross income’ means 

19 adjusted gross income increased by any amount ex20 cluded from gross income under section 911, 931, or 

21 933. 

22 ‘‘(3) THRESHOLD AMOUNT.—The term ‘thresh23 old amount’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) $150,000 in the case of a joint re25 turn, and 


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1 ‘‘(B) $75,000 in any other case. 

2 ‘‘(4) INDEXING.—In the case of any taxable 

3 year beginning in a calendar year after 2016, each 

4 dollar amount contained in paragraph (3) shall be 

5 increased by an amount equal to the product of— 

6 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, and 

7 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter8 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

9 year in which the taxable year begins, deter10 mined by substituting ‘‘calendar year 2015’’ for 

11 ‘‘calendar year 1992’’ in subparagraph (B) 

12 thereof. 

13 ‘‘(5) ROUNDING RULE.—If any increase deter14 mined under paragraph (4) is not a multiple of $50, 

15 such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest 

16 multiple of $50. 

17 ‘‘(g) IDENTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE CAREGIVER

18 WITH CARE RECIPIENT (QUALIFIED CARE RECIPIENT) 

19 IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.—No credit shall be al20 lowed under this section to a taxpayer with respect to any 

21 qualified care recipient unless the taxpayer includes the 

22 name and taxpayer identification number of such indi23 vidual, and the identification number of the licensed health 

24 care practitioner certifying such individual, on the return 

25 of tax for the taxable year.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

3 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat4 ing to section 25D the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Working family caregivers.’’. 

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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