I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5142 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an economic stimulus 

for individuals. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 28, 2008 

Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania 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 

an economic stimulus for 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 ‘‘Family Economic 

5 Stimulus Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RETROACTIVE, 2-YEAR MORATORIUM ON INCLU7 SION OF UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION IN 

8 GROSS INCOME. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 85 of the Internal Rev10 enue Code of 1986 (relating to unemployment compensaVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:40 Jan 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5142.IH H5142

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1 tion) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 subsection: 

3 ‘‘(c) MORATORIUM.—This section shall not apply to 

4 any taxable year beginning in 2007 or 2008.’’. 

5 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

6 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY INCREASE IN CHILD CREDIT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 24 of the 

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to allowance of 

11 credit) is amended by inserting ‘‘($1,200 in the case of 

12 the first taxable year beginning in 2008)’’ after ‘‘$1,000’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 December 31, 2007. 

16 SEC. 4. 2008 STIMULUS CREDIT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6428 of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 6428. 2008 STIMULUS CREDIT. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi21 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

22 imposed by chapter 1 for the taxpayer’s first taxable year 

23 beginning in 2008 an amount equal to $400 ($800 in the 

24 case of a joint return). 


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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS IN2 COME.— 

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

4 allowable under subsection (a) shall be zero if the 

5 modified adjusted gross income of the taxpayer ex6 ceeds the threshold amount. For purposes of the 

7 preceding sentence, the term ‘modified adjusted 

8 gross income’ means adjusted gross income in9 creased by any amount excluded from gross income 

10 under section 911, 931, or 933. 

11 ‘‘(2) THRESHOLD AMOUNT.—For purposes of 

12 paragraph (1), the term ‘threshold amount’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) $115,000 in the case of a joint return 

14 and head of household (as defined in section 

15 2(b)), 

16 ‘‘(B) $75,000 in the case of an individual 

17 who is not married, and 

18 ‘‘(C) $57,500 in the case of a married in19 dividual filing a separate return. 

20 For purposes of this paragraph, marital status shall 

21 be determined under section 7703. 

22 ‘‘(c) CREDIT TREATED AS NONREFUNDABLE PER23 SONAL CREDIT.—For purposes of this title, the credit al24 lowed under this section shall be treated as a credit allowVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:40 Jan 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5142.IH H5142

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1 able under subpart A of part IV of subchapter A of chap2 ter 1. 

3 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

4 section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means any individual 

5 other than— 

6 ‘‘(1) any estate or trust, 

7 ‘‘(2) any nonresident alien individual, and 

8 ‘‘(3) any individual with respect to whom a de9 duction under section 151 is allowable to another 

10 taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the cal11 endar year in which the individual’s taxable year be12 gins. 

13 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH ADVANCE REFUNDS OF

14 CREDIT.— 

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

16 which would (but for this paragraph) be allowable 

17 under this section shall be reduced (but not below 

18 zero) by the aggregate refunds and credits made or 

19 allowed to the taxpayer under subsection (e). Any 

20 failure to so reduce the credit shall be treated as 

21 arising out of a mathematical or clerical error and 

22 assessed according to section 6213(b)(1). 

23 ‘‘(2) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a refund 

24 or credit made or allowed under subsection (f) with 

25 respect to a joint return, half of such refund or credVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:40 Jan 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5142.IH H5142

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1 it shall be treated as having been made or allowed 

2 to each individual filing such return. 

3 ‘‘(f) ADVANCE REFUNDS OF CREDIT BASED ON

4 PRIOR YEAR DATA.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual who was 

6 an eligible individual for such individual’s first tax7 able year beginning in 2006 shall be treated as hav8 ing made a payment against the tax imposed by 

9 chapter 1 for such first taxable year in an amount 

10 equal to the advance refund amount for such taxable 

11 year. 

12 ‘‘(2) ADVANCE REFUND AMOUNT.—For pur13 poses of paragraph (1), the advance refund amount 

14 is the amount that would have been allowed as a 

15 credit under this section for such first taxable year 

16 if— 

17 ‘‘(A) this section (other than subsections 

18 (c) and (e) and this subsection) had applied to 

19 such taxable year, and 

20 ‘‘(B) the credit for such taxable year were 

21 not allowed to exceed the excess (if any) of— 

22 ‘‘(i) the sum of the regular tax liabil23 ity (as defined in section 26(b)) plus the 

24 tax imposed by section 55, over 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the credits allowable 

2 under part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

3 1 (other than the credits allowable under 

4 subpart C thereof, relating to refundable 

5 credits). 

6 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—In the case of 

7 any overpayment attributable to this subsection, the 

8 Secretary shall, subject to the provisions of this title, 

9 refund or credit such overpayment as rapidly as pos10 sible and, to the extent practicable, before the date 

11 which is 120 days after the date of the enactment 

12 of this section. No refund or credit shall be made or 

13 allowed under this subsection after December 31, 

14 2008. 

15 ‘‘(4) NO INTEREST.—No interest shall be al16 lowed on any overpayment attributable to this sub17 section.’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1) of 

19 section 1(i) of such Code is amended by striking subpara20 graph (D). 

21 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating to 

22 section 6428 in the table of sections for subchapter B of 

23 chapter 65 of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘Sec. 6428. 2008 stimulus credit.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2007. 

4 SEC. 5. ALTERNATIVE EXTENDED-BENEFITS INDICATORS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of determining 

6 whether there are State ‘‘on’’ or ‘‘off’’ indicators (within 

7 the meaning of section 203(d) of the Federal-State Ex8 tended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 (26 

9 U.S.C. 3304 note)) for any of the first 52 weeks beginning 

10 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, such 

11 section 203(d) shall be applied by substituting ‘‘4’’ for ‘‘5’’ 

12 each place it appears. 

13 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 terms ‘‘State’’ and ‘‘week’’ have the respective meanings 

15 given such terms by section 205 of such Act. 

16 SEC. 6. REQUIRED DISTRIBUTION OF STATE-SPECIFIC IN17 FORMATION PACKETS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 3304 of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to approval 

20 of State laws) is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 

21 of paragraph (18), by striking the period at the end of 

22 paragraph (19) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by inserting 

23 after paragraph (19) the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(20) the State will distribute to unemployed 

25 individuals State-specific information packets exVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:40 Jan 29, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5142.IH H5142

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1 plaining unemployment insurance eligibility condi2 tions.’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

4 subsection (a) shall apply to certifications of States for 

5 2008 and thereafter, except that section 3304(a)(20) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by sub7 section (a), shall not be a requirement for the State law 

8 of any State prior to July 1, 2009, if the legislature of 

9 such State does not meet in a regular session which closes 

10 during the calendar year 2008. 

Æ 


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