II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 467 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to strengthen the earned 

income tax credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2011 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) 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. 

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 ‘‘Strengthen the Earned 

5 Income Tax Credit Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STRENGTHEN THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT. 

7 (a) PERMANENT EXTENSION OF MARRIAGE PEN8 ALTY RELIEF AND INCREASE IN CREDIT FOR CERTAIN

9 FAMILIES.— 

10 (1) REDUCTION IN MARRIAGE PENALTY.— 


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•S 467 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of 

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

3 of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘increased by’’ 

4 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘increased by 

5 $5,000.’’. 

6 (B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Clause (ii) 

7 of section 32(j)(1)(B) of such Code is amend8 ed— 

9 (i) by striking ‘‘$3,000 amount in 

10 subsection (b)(2)(B)(iii)’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$5,000 amount in subsection (b)(2)(B)’’, 

12 and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘calendar year 2007’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘calendar year 2008’’. 

15 (2) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR

16 FAMILIES WITH 3 OR MORE CHILDREN.—The table 

17 contained in section 32(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 (relating to percentages) is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘2 or more qualifying chil21 dren’’ in the second row and inserting ‘‘2 quali22 fying children’’, and 

23 (B) by inserting after the second row the 

24 following new item: 

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


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1 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 32(b) 

2 of such Code is amended by striking paragraph (3). 

3 (b) 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 by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the last 

8 column and inserting ‘‘$12,690’’. 

9 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 

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

11 of 1986, as amended by subsection (a), is amend12 ed— 

13 (A) in clause (i)— 

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

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

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

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

18 clause: 

19 ‘‘(iii) in the case of the $12,690 

20 amount in the table in subsection 

21 (b)(2)(A), by substituting ‘calendar year 

22 2010’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subpara23 graph (B) of such section 1.’’. 

24 (c) CREDIT INCREASE AND REDUCTION IN PHASE25 OUT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO CHILDREN.—The table 


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

2 Code of 1986 is amended— 

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

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

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

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

7 (d) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR CERTAIN CHILDLESS IN8 DIVIDUALS OVER AGE 21.—Subclause (II) of section 

9 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re10 lating to eligible individual) is amended by striking ‘‘age 

11 25’’ and inserting ‘‘age 21’’. 

12 (e) MODIFICATION OF ABANDONED SPOUSE RULE.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to eligible in15 dividual) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(G) CERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV18 ING APART.—For purposes of this section, an 

19 individual who— 

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

21 section 7703(a)) and files a separate re22 turn for the taxable year, 

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

24 the individual for more than one-half of 

25 such taxable year, and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) during the last 6 months of such 

2 taxable year, does not have the same prin3 cipal place of abode as the individual’s 

4 spouse, shall not be considered as mar5 ried.’’. 

6 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

7 (A) The last sentence of section 

8 32(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

9 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘section 7703’’ 

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

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

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

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

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

15 is married (within the meaning of section 

16 7703(a)) and is not described in subsection 

17 (c)(1)(G)’’. 

18 (f) ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT IN19 COME TEST.— 

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

21 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sub22 section (i). 

23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

25 amended by this Act, is amended— 


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1 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and in2 serting ‘‘subsection’’, and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘and (i)(1)’’. 

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

5 amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount in sub7 section (b)(2)(A) (after being increased under sub8 paragraph (B) thereof), after being increased under 

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

10 amount shall be rounded to the next nearest mul11 tiple of $10.’’. 

12 (g) SIMPLIFICATION OF RULES REGARDING PRES13 ENCE OF QUALIFYING CHILD.— 

14 (1) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

15 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI16 FYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF

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

18 Code of 1986 (relating to eligible individual), as 

19 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the 

20 end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(H) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT

22 FOR WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF

23 QUALIFYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

24 MEMBER OF FAMILY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro2 vided in clause (ii), in the case of 2 or 

3 more eligible individuals who may claim for 

4 such taxable year the same individual as a 

5 qualifying child, if such individual is 

6 claimed as a qualifying child by such an el7 igible individual, then any other such eligi8 ble individual who does not make such a 

9 claim of such child or of any other quali10 fying child may be considered an eligible 

11 individual without a qualifying child for 

12 purposes of the credit allowed under this 

13 section for such taxable year. 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION IF QUALIFYING

15 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indi16 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

17 any taxable year by an eligible individual 

18 who is a parent of such child, then no 

19 other parent of such child who does not 

20 make such a claim of such child or of any 

21 other qualifying child may be considered 

22 an eligible individual without a qualifying 

23 child for purposes of the credit allowed 

24 under this section for such taxable year.’’. 


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1 (2) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

2 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI3 FYING CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE VALID SOCIAL SECU4 RITY NUMBER.—Subparagraph (F) of section 

5 32(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(F) INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT INCLUDE

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

9 case of any eligible individual who has one or 

10 more qualifying children, if no qualifying child 

11 of such individual is taken into account under 

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

13 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

14 section, such individual may be considered an 

15 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 

16 (h) INCREASED PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO BE DILI17 GENT IN DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY FOR EARNED IN18 COME CREDIT.—Section 6695(g) of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘$100’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘$500’’. 

21 (i) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the amendments made by this section 

24 shall apply to taxable years beginning after Decem25 ber 31, 2010. 


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1 (2) INCREASED PENALTY.—The amendment 

2 made by subsection (h) shall apply to returns re3 quired to be filed after December 31, 2011. 

4 (j) REPEAL OF EGTRRA SUNSET.—Title IX of the 

5 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 

6 2001 (relating to sunset provisions of such Act) shall not 

7 apply to section 303 of such Act. 

Æ 


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