I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5215

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a nonrefundable 

tax credit for elder care expenses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 5, 2004

Mr. BURNS 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 allow a 

nonrefundable tax credit for elder care 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 ‘‘Senior Elder Care Re5 lief and Empowerment (SECURE) Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ELDER CARE. 

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 25B the fol10 lowing new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 25C. ELDER CARE EXPENSES. 

2 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in3 dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

4 imposed by this chapter 50 percent of so much of the 

5 qualified elder care expenses paid or incurred by the tax6 payer with respect to each qualified senior citizen as ex7 ceeds $1,000. 

8 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED SENIOR CITIZEN.—For purposes of 

9 this section, the term ‘qualified senior citizen’ means an 

10 individual—

11 ‘‘(1) who has attained normal retirement age 

12 (as determined under section 216 of the Social Secu13 rity Act) before the close of the taxable year, 

14 ‘‘(2) who is a chronically ill individual (within 

15 the meaning of section 7702B(c)(2)(B)), and 

16 ‘‘(3) who is—

17 ‘‘(A) the taxpayer, 

18 ‘‘(B) a family member (within the meaning 

19 of section 529(e)(2)) of the taxpayer, or 

20 ‘‘(C) a dependent (within the meaning of 

21 section 152) of the taxpayer. 

22 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED ELDER CARE EXPENSES.—For pur23 poses of this section—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified elder 

25 care expenses’ means expenses paid or incurred by 
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1 the taxpayer with respect to the qualified senior cit2 izen for—

3 ‘‘(A) qualified long-term care services (as 

4 defined in section 7702B(c)), 

5 ‘‘(B) respite care, or 

6 ‘‘(C) adult day care. 

7 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘qualified elder 

8 care expenses’ does not include—

9 ‘‘(A) any expense to the extent such ex10 pense is compensated for by insurance or other11 wise, and 

12 ‘‘(B) any expense paid to a nursing facility 

13 (as defined in section 1919 of the Social Secu14 rity Act). 

15 ‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—

16 ‘‘(1) ADULT DAY CARE.—The term ‘adult day 

17 care’ means care provided for a qualified senior cit18 izen through a structured, community-based group 

19 program which provides health, social, and other re20 lated support services on a less than 16-hour per 

21 day basis. 

22 ‘‘(2) RESPITE CARE.—The term ‘respite care’ 

23 means planned or emergency care provided to a 

24 qualified senior citizen in order to provide temporary 

25 relief to a caregiver of such senior citizen. 
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1 ‘‘(3) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—Rules similar to 

2 the rules of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 

3 21(e) shall apply for purposes of this section. 

4 ‘‘(4) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction or 

5 other credit under this chapter shall take into ac6 count any expense taken into account for purposes 

7 of determining the credit under this section. 

8 ‘‘(5) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION REQUIRED

9 WITH RESPECT TO SERVICE PROVIDER.—No credit 

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

11 paid to any person unless—

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

13 identification number of such person are in14 cluded on the return claiming the credit, or 

15 ‘‘(B) if such person is an organization de16 scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from 

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

18 of such person are included on the return 

19 claiming the credit. 

20 In the case of a failure to provide the information 

21 required under the preceding sentence, the preceding 

22 sentence shall not apply if it is shown that the tax23 payer exercised due diligence in attempting to pro24 vide the information so required. 
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1 ‘‘(6) IDENTIFYING INFORMATION REQUIRED

2 WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFIED SENIOR CITIZENS.—

3 No credit shall be allowed under this section with re4 spect to any qualified senior citizen unless the TIN 

5 of such senior citizen is included on the return 

6 claiming the credit.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

8 (1) Section 6213(g)(2)(H) (relating to mathe9 matical or clerical error) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 

10 section 25C (relating to elder care expenses),’’ after 

11 ‘‘employment)’’. 

12 (2) The table of sections for subpart A of part 

13 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

15 item relating to section 25B the following new item:

‘‘Sec. 25C. Elder care expenses.’’.

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall apply to expenses incurred in taxable 

18 years beginning after December 31, 2003.

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