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103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 172

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore the deduction

for two-earner married couples.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARYY 5, 1993

Mr. DUNCAN 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 restore

the deduction for two-earner married couples.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 That (a) part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the

4 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to additional

5 itemized deductions for individuals) is amended by redes6 ignating section 220 as section 221 and by inserting after

7 section 219 the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 220. DEDUCTION FOR TWO-EARNER MARRIED COU2 PLES.

3 ‘‘(a) DEDUCTION ALLOWED.—In the case of a joint

4 return under section 6013 for the taxable year, there shall

5 be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to 10 percent

6 of the lesser of—

7 ‘‘(1) $30,000, or

8 ‘‘(2) the qualified earned income of the spouse

9 with the lower qualified earned income for such tax10 able year.

11 ‘‘(b) PHASEOUT.—The amount allowed as a deduc12 tion under subsection (a) shall be reduced (but not below

13 zero) by 12 percent of so much of the adjusted gross in14 come of the taxpayer for the taxable year (determined

15 without regard to this section) as exceeds $75,000.

16 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED EARNED INCOME DEFINED.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, the term ‘qualified earned income’ means an

19 amount equal to the excess of—

20 ‘‘(A) the earned income of the spouse for

21 the taxable year, over

22 ‘‘(B) an amount equal to the sum of the

23 deductions described in paragraphs (1), (2),

24 (6), (7), (11), and (13) of section 62(a) to the

25 extent such deductions are properly allocable to
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1 or chargeable against earned income described

2 in subparagraph (A).

3 The amount of qualified earned income shall be de4 termined without regard to any community property

5 laws.

6 ‘‘(2) EARNED INCOME.—For purposes of para7 graph (1), the term ‘earned income’ means income

8 which is earned income within the meaning of sec9 tion 911(d)(2) or 401(c)(2)(C), except that—

10 ‘‘(A) such term shall not include any

11 amount—

12 ‘‘(i) not includible in gross income,

13 ‘‘(ii) received as a pension or annuity,

14 ‘‘(iii) paid or distributed out of an in15 dividual retirement plan (within the mean16 ing of section 7701(a)(37)),

17 ‘‘(iv) received as deferred compensa18 tion, or

19 ‘‘(v) received for services performed

20 by an individual in the employ of his

21 spouse (within the meaning of section

22 3121(b)(3)(A)), and

23 ‘‘(B) section 911(d)(2)(B) shall be applied

24 without regard to the phrase ‘not in excess of
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1 30 percent of his share of net profits of such

2 trade or business’.

3 ‘‘(d) DEDUCTION DISALLOWED FOR INDIVIDUAL

4 CLAIMING BENEFITS OF SECTION 911 OR 931.—No de5 duction shall be allowed under this section for any taxable

6 year if either spouse claims the benefits of section 911

7 or 931 for such taxable year.’’

8 (b)(1) Subsection (a) of section 62 of such Code (de9 fining adjusted gross income) is amended by inserting

10 after paragraph (13) the following new paragraph:

11 ‘‘(14) DEDUCTION FOR TWO-EARNER MARRIED

12 COUPLES.—The deduction allowed by section 220.’’

13 (2) Subparagraph (A) of section 86(b)(2) of such

14 Code is amended by inserting ‘‘220,’’ after ‘‘135,’’.

15 (3) Subsection (f) of section 86 of such Code is

16 amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (3),

17 by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (4), and by in18 serting at the end of paragraph (4) the following new

19 paragraph:

20 ‘‘(5) section 220(c)(2) (defining earned in21 come),’’.

22 (4) The table of sections for part VII of subchapter

23 B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the

24 item relating to section 220 and inserting the following:

‘‘Sec. 220. Deduction for two-earner married couples.

‘‘Sec. 221. Cross reference.’’
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1 (c) The amendments made by this section shall apply

2 to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1991.

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