II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1351 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide an income tax 

credit for eldercare expenses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2019 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HIRONO, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) 

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 

an income tax credit for eldercare expenses. 

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 ‘‘Americans Giving Care 

5 to Elders (AGE) Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ELDERCARE EXPENSES. 

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. EXPENSES FOR ELDERCARE. 

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

4 for which there are 1 or more qualifying individuals 

5 with respect to such individual, there shall be al6 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this 

7 chapter for the taxable year an amount equal to the 

8 applicable percentage of the eldercare expenses paid 

9 by such individual during the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—For purposes 

11 of paragraph (1), the term ‘applicable percentage’ 

12 means 20 percent, reduced (but not below zero) by 

13 1 percentage point for each $4,000 (or fraction 

14 thereof) by which the taxpayer’s adjusted gross in15 come for the taxable year exceeds $120,000. 

16 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

17 ‘‘(1) QUALIFYING INDIVIDUAL.—The term 

18 ‘qualifying individual’ means an individual— 

19 ‘‘(A) who has attained age 65, 

20 ‘‘(B) who requires assistance with activities 

21 of daily living, and 

22 ‘‘(C) who is, with respect to the taxpayer 

23 or the taxpayer’s spouse— 

24 ‘‘(i) the father or mother or an ances25 tor of such father or mother, 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the father-in-law or mother-in2 law or an ancestor of such father-in-law or 

3 mother-in-law, 

4 ‘‘(iii) the stepfather or stepmother or 

5 an ancestor of such stepfather or step6 mother, or 

7 ‘‘(iv) any other person who, for the 

8 taxable year, has the same principal place 

9 of abode as the taxpayer and is a member 

10 of the household of the taxpayer. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELDERCARE EXPENSES.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eldercare 

13 expenses’ means the following amounts paid for 

14 expenses relating to the care of a qualifying in15 dividual: 

16 ‘‘(i) Medical care (as defined in sec17 tion 213(d)(1), without regard to subpara18 graph D thereof). 

19 ‘‘(ii) Lodging away from home in ac20 cordance with section 213(d)(2). 

21 ‘‘(iii) Adult day services. 

22 ‘‘(iv) Personal care. 

23 ‘‘(v) Respite care. 

24 ‘‘(vi) Assistive technologies and de25 vices (including remote health monitoring). 


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1 ‘‘(vii) Environmental modifications 

2 (including home modifications). 

3 ‘‘(viii) Counseling or training for a 

4 caregiver. 

5 ‘‘(B) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of sub6 paragraph (A)— 

7 ‘‘(i) ADULT DAY SERVICES.—The 

8 term ‘adult day services’ means care pro9 vided for adults with functional or cog10 nitive impairments through a structured, 

11 community-based group program which 

12 provides health, social, and other related 

13 support services on a less than 24-hour 

14 basis. 

15 ‘‘(ii) PERSONAL CARE.—The term 

16 ‘personal care’ means reasonable personal 

17 care services provided to assist with daily 

18 living which do not require the skills of 

19 qualified technical or professional per20 sonnel. 

21 ‘‘(iii) RESPITE CARE.—The term ‘res22 pite care’ means planned or emergency 

23 care intended to provide temporary relief 

24 to a caregiver. 

25 ‘‘(C) CARE CENTERS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Eldercare ex2 penses described in subparagraph (A) 

3 which are incurred for services provided 

4 outside the taxpayer’s household by a care 

5 center shall be taken into account only if 

6 such center complies with all applicable 

7 laws and regulations of a State or unit of 

8 local government. 

9 ‘‘(ii) CARE CENTER.—For purposes of 

10 this subparagraph, the term ‘care center’ 

11 means any facility which— 

12 ‘‘(I) provides care for more than 

13 6 individuals, and 

14 ‘‘(II) receives a fee, payment, or 

15 grant for providing services for any of 

16 the individuals (regardless of whether 

17 such facility is operated for profit). 

18 ‘‘(c) DOLLAR LIMITATION.— 

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

20 eldercare expenses incurred during any taxable year 

21 which may be taken into account under subsection 

22 (a) shall not exceed $6,000. 

23 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH DEPENDENT CARE

24 ASSISTANCE EXCLUSION.—The dollar amount in 

25 paragraph (1) shall be reduced by the aggregate 


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1 amount excluded from gross income under section 

2 129 for the taxable year, if any. 

3 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this sec4 tion— 

5 ‘‘(1) PAYMENTS TO RELATED INDIVIDUALS.— 

6 No credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) for 

7 any amount paid to an individual with respect to 

8 whom, for the taxable year, a deduction under sec9 tion 151(c) is allowable either to the taxpayer or the 

10 taxpayer’s spouse. For purposes of this paragraph, 

11 the term ‘taxable year’ means the taxable year of the 

12 taxpayer in which the service is performed. 

13 ‘‘(2) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION REQUIRED

14 WITH RESPECT TO SERVICE PROVIDER.—No credit 

15 shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any amount 

16 paid to any person unless— 

17 ‘‘(A) the name, address, and taxpayer 

18 identification number of such person are in19 cluded on the return claiming the credit, or 

20 ‘‘(B) if such person is an organization de21 scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from 

22 tax under section 501(a), the name and address 

23 of such person are included on the return 

24 claiming the credit. 


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1 In the case of a failure to provide the information 

2 required under the preceding sentence, the preceding 

3 sentence shall not apply if it is shown that the tax4 payer exercised due diligence in attempting to pro5 vide the information so required. 

6 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION REQUIRED

7 WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS.—No 

8 credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) with re9 spect to any qualifying individual unless the tax10 payer identification number of such individual is in11 cluded on the return claiming the credit. 

12 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No credit shall 

13 be allowed under subsection (a) for any amount with re14 spect to which a credit is allowed under section 21. 

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

16 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the pur17 poses of this section.’’. 

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

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

20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in21 serting after the item relating to section 25D the following 

22 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 25E. Expenses for eldercare.’’. 

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) Section 213(e) of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986 is amended— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘or section 25E’’ after 

2 ‘‘section 21’’, and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘AND ELDERS’’ after 

4 ‘‘CERTAIN DEPENDENTS’’ in the heading. 

5 (2) Section 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amend6 ed— 

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘, section 25E (relating to 

8 expenses for care of elders),’’ after ‘‘(relating to 

9 expenses for household and dependent care 

10 services necessary for gainful employment)’’ in 

11 subparagraph (H), and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘, 25E’’ after ‘‘24’’ in 

13 subparagraph (L). 

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

15 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

16 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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