II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1314

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that married couples

may file a combined return under which each spouse is taxed using

the rates applicable to unmarried individuals.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 24, 1997

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. FAIRCLOTH) 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 provide

that married couples may file a combined return under

which each spouse is taxed using the rates applicable

to unmarried individuals.

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 ‘‘Marriage Tax Elimi5 nation Act’’.
2

•S 1314 IS

1 SEC. 2. COMBINED RETURN TO WHICH UNMARRIED RATES

2 APPLY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part II of sub4 chapter A of chapter 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of

5 1986 (relating to income tax returns) is amended by in6 serting after section 6013 the following new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 6013A. COMBINED RETURN WITH SEPARATE RATES.

8 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—A husband and wife may

9 make a combined return of income taxes under subtitle

10 A under which—

11 ‘‘(1) a separate taxable income is determined

12 for each spouse by applying the rules provided in

13 this section, and

14 ‘‘(2) the tax imposed by section 1 is the aggre15 gate amount resulting from applying the separate

16 rates set forth in section 1(c) to each such taxable

17 income.

18 ‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF INCOME.—For purposes of this

19 section—

20 ‘‘(1) earned income (within the meaning of sec21 tion 911(d)), and any income received as a pension

22 or annuity which arises from an employer-employee

23 relationship, shall be treated as the income of the

24 spouse who rendered the services, and
3

•S 1314 IS

1 ‘‘(2) income from property shall be divided be2 tween the spouses in accordance with their respec3 tive ownership rights in such property.

4 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTIONS.—For purposes of

5 this section—

6 ‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sub7 section, the deductions allowed by section 62(a) shall

8 be allowed to the spouse treated as having the in9 come to which such deductions relate,

10 ‘‘(2) the deduction for retirement savings de11 scribed in paragraph (7) of section 62(a) shall be al12 lowed to the spouse for whose benefit the savings are

13 maintained,

14 ‘‘(3) the deduction for alimony described in

15 paragraph (10) of section 62(a) shall be allowed to

16 the spouse who has the liability to pay the alimony,

17 ‘‘(4) the deduction referred to in paragraph

18 (16) of section 62(a) (relating to contributions to

19 medical savings accounts) shall be allowed to the

20 spouse with respect to whose employment or self-em21 ployment such account relates,

22 ‘‘(5) the deductions allowable by section 151

23 (relating to personal exemptions) shall be deter24 mined by requiring each spouse to claim 1 personal

25 exemption,
4

•S 1314 IS

1 ‘‘(6) section 63 shall be applied as if such

2 spouses were not married, and

3 ‘‘(7) each spouse’s share of all other deductions

4 (including the deduction for personal exemptions

5 under section 151(c)) shall be determined by mul6 tiplying the aggregate amount thereof by the frac7 tion—

8 ‘‘(A) the numerator of which is such

9 spouse’s adjusted gross income, and

10 ‘‘(B) the denominator of which is the com11 bined adjusted gross incomes of the 2 spouses.

12 Any fraction determined under paragraph (7) shall be

13 rounded to the nearest percentage point.

14 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF CREDITS.—Credits shall be de15 termined (and applied against the joint liability of the cou16 ple for tax) as if the spouses had filed a joint return.

17 ‘‘(e) TREATMENT AS JOINT RETURN.—Except as

18 otherwise provided in this section or in the regulations

19 prescribed hereunder, for purposes of this title (other than

20 sections 1 and 63(c)) a combined return under this section

21 shall be treated as a joint return.

22 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

23 such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to

24 carry out this section.’’.
5

•S 1314 IS

1 (b) UNMARRIED RATE MADE APPLICABLE.—So

2 much of subsection (c) of section 1 of such Code as pre3 cedes the table is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(c) SEPARATE OR UNMARRIED RETURN RATE.—

5 There is hereby imposed on the taxable income of every

6 individual (other than a married individual (as defined in

7 section 7703) filing a joint return or a separate return,

8 a surviving spouse as defined in section 2(a), or a head

9 of household as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined

10 in accordance with the following table:’’.

11 (c) BASIC STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR UNMARRIED

12 INDIVIDUALS MADE APPLICABLE.—Subparagraph (C) of

13 section 63(c)(2) of such Code is amended to read as fol14 lows:

15 ‘‘(C) $3,000 in the case of an individual

16 who is not—

17 ‘‘(i) a married individual filing a joint

18 return or a separate return,

19 ‘‘(ii) a surviving spouse, or

20 ‘‘(iii) a head of household, or’’.

21 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

22 for subpart B of part II of subchapter A of chapter 61

23 of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat24 ing to section 6013 the following:

‘‘Sec. 6013A. Combined return with separate rates.’’
6

•S 1314 IS

1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after

3 the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ