II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 24 

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

income tax credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 7, 2009 

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 2009’’. 

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

7 (a) REDUCTION IN MARRIAGE PENALTY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (B) of section 

9 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘increased by’’ and all that fol2 lows and inserting ‘‘increased by $5,000.’’. 

3 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Clause (ii) of 

4 section 32(j)(1)(B) of such Code is amended— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘$3,000 amount in sub6 section (b)(2)(B)(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘$5,000 

7 amount in subsection (b)(2)(B)’’, and 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘calendar year 2007’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘calendar year 2008’’. 

10 (b) INCREASE IN CREDIT PERCENTAGE FOR FAMI11 LIES WITH 3 OR MORE CHILDREN.—The table contained 

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

13 1986 (relating to percentages) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘2 or more qualifying children’’ 

15 in the second row and inserting ‘‘2 qualifying chil16 dren’’, and 

17 (2) by inserting after the second row the fol18 lowing new item: 

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

19 (c) INCREASED CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO

20 QUALIFYING CHILDREN.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table in subparagraph 

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

23 of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ in the second col2 umn and inserting ‘‘$7,250’’, and 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the last col4 umn and inserting ‘‘$14,500’’. 

5 (2) TRANSITIONAL PHASEOUT AMOUNT FOR

6 2009.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(b)(2) of 

8 such Code, as amended by subsection (a), is 

9 amended by redesignating subparagraph (B) as 

10 subparagraph (C) and by inserting after sub11 paragraph (A) the following new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(B) TRANSITIONAL PHASEOUT AMOUNT

13 FOR ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS WITH NO QUALI14 FYING CHILDREN IN 2009.—In the case of tax15 able years beginning in 2009, the phaseout 

16 amount for an eligible individual with no quali17 fying children shall be $13,800.’’. 

18 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subpara19 graph (C) of section 32(b)(2) of such Code, as 

20 redesignated by paragraph (2), is amended by 

21 inserting ‘‘or (B)’’ after ‘‘subparagraph (A)’’. 

22 (3) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 

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

24 of 1986, as amended by subsection (a), is amend25 ed— 


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1 (A) in clause (i)— 

2 (i) by inserting ‘‘(other than the 

3 amounts relating to individuals with no 

4 qualifying children)’’ after ‘‘(b)(2)(A)’’, 

5 and 

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

7 (B) in clause (ii)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘(b)(2)(B)’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘(b)(2)(C) and the $7,250 amount in 

10 the table in subsection (b)(2)(A)’’, and 

11 (ii) by striking the period and insert12 ing ‘‘, and’’, and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

14 clause: 

15 ‘‘(iii) in the case of the $14,500 

16 amount in the table in subsection 

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

18 2009’ for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subpara19 graph (B) of such section 1.’’. 

20 (d) CREDIT INCREASE AND REDUCTION IN PHASE21 OUT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO CHILDREN.—The table 

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

23 Code of 1986 is amended— 

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

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


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

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

3 (e) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR CERTAIN CHILDLESS IN4 DIVIDUALS OVER AGE 21.—Subclause (II) of section 

5 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re6 lating to eligible individual) is amended by striking ‘‘age 

7 25’’ and inserting ‘‘age 21’’. 

8 (f) MODIFICATION OF ABANDONED SPOUSE RULE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 32(c)(1) of the In10 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to eligible in11 dividual) is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(G) CERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV14 ING APART.—For purposes of this section, an 

15 individual who— 

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

17 section 7703(a)) and files a separate re18 turn for the taxable year, 

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

20 the individual for more than one-half of 

21 such taxable year, and 

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

23 taxable year, does not have the same prin24 cipal place of abode as the individual’s 


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1 spouse, shall not be considered as mar2 ried.’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (A) The last sentence of section 

5 32(c)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

6 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘section 7703’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘section 7703(a)’’. 

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

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

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

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

12 is married (within the meaning of section 

13 7703(a)) and is not described in subsection 

14 (c)(1)(G)’’. 

15 (g) ELIMINATION OF DISQUALIFIED INVESTMENT

16 INCOME TEST.— 

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

18 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking sub19 section (i). 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

22 amended by this Act, is amended— 

23 (i) by striking ‘‘subsections’’ and in24 serting ‘‘subsection’’, and 

25 (ii) by striking ‘‘and (i)(1)’’. 


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

2 amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount in sub4 section (b)(2)(A) (after being increased under sub5 paragraph (B) thereof), after being increased under 

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

7 amount shall be rounded to the next nearest mul8 tiple of $10.’’. 

9 (h) SIMPLIFICATION OF RULES REGARDING PRES10 ENCE OF QUALIFYING CHILD.— 

11 (1) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

12 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI13 FYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF

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

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

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

17 end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(H) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT

19 FOR WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF

20 QUALIFYING CHILD CLAIMED BY ANOTHER

21 MEMBER OF FAMILY.— 

22 ‘‘(i) GENERAL RULE.—Except as pro23 vided in clause (ii), in the case of 2 or 

24 more eligible individuals who may claim for 

25 such taxable year the same individual as a 


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1 qualifying child, if such individual is 

2 claimed as a qualifying child by such an el3 igible individual, then any other such eligi4 ble individual who does not make such a 

5 claim of such child or of any other quali6 fying child may be considered an eligible 

7 individual without a qualifying child for 

8 purposes of the credit allowed under this 

9 section for such taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION IF QUALIFYING

11 CHILD CLAIMED BY PARENT.—If an indi12 vidual is claimed as a qualifying child for 

13 any taxable year by an eligible individual 

14 who is a parent of such child, then no 

15 other parent of such child who does not 

16 make such a claim of such child or of any 

17 other qualifying child may be considered 

18 an eligible individual without a qualifying 

19 child for purposes of the credit allowed 

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

21 (2) TAXPAYER ELIGIBLE FOR CREDIT FOR

22 WORKER WITHOUT QUALIFYING CHILD IF QUALI23 FYING CHILDREN DO NOT HAVE VALID SOCIAL SECU24 RITY NUMBER.—Subparagraph (F) of section 


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

2 amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(F) INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT INCLUDE

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

5 case of any eligible individual who has one or 

6 more qualifying children, if no qualifying child 

7 of such individual is taken into account under 

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

9 for purposes of the credit allowed under this 

10 section, such individual may be considered an 

11 eligible individual without a qualifying child.’’. 

12 (i) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2008. 

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

16 Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 

17 2001 (relating to sunset provisions of such Act) shall not 

18 apply to section 303 of such Act. 

Æ 


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