H. R. 4810
One Hundred Sixth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand
An Act
To provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 103(a)(1) of the concurrent resolution
on the budget for fiscal year 2001.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marriage
Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2000’’.
(b) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment made by this
Act shall be treated as a change in a rate of tax for purposes
of section 15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN STANDARD DEDUC-
TION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard deduction) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ in subparagraph (A) and inserting
‘‘200 percent of the dollar amount in effect under subparagraph
(C) for the taxable year’’;
(2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (B);
(3) by striking ‘‘in the case of’’ and all that follows in
subparagraph (C) and inserting ‘‘in any other case.’’; and
(4) by striking subparagraph (D).
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f )(6) of such Code is
amended by striking ‘‘(other than with’’ and all that follows
through ‘‘shall be applied’’ and inserting ‘‘(other than with
respect to sections 63(c)(4) and 151(d)(4)(A)) shall be applied’’.
(2) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) of such Code is amended
by adding at the end the following flush sentence:
‘‘The preceding sentence shall not apply to the amount referred
to in paragraph (2)(A).’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.
SEC. 3. PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f ) of section 1 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to adjustments in tax tables so
that inflation will not result in tax increases) is amended by adding
at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(8) PHASEOUT
OF
MARRIAGE
PENALTY
IN
15-PERCENT
BRACKET.—
H. R. 4810—2
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to taxable years begin-
ning after December 31, 1999, in prescribing the tables
under paragraph (1)—
‘‘(i) the maximum taxable income in the lowest
rate bracket in the table contained in subsection (a)
(and the minimum taxable income in the next higher
taxable income bracket in such table) shall be the
applicable percentage of the maximum taxable income
in the lowest rate bracket in the table contained in
subsection (c) (after any other adjustment under this
subsection), and
‘‘(ii) the comparable taxable income amounts in
the table contained in subsection (d) shall be 1⁄2 of
the amounts determined under clause (i).
‘‘(B) 
APPLICABLE
PERCENTAGE.—For 
purposes 
of
subparagraph (A), the applicable percentage shall be deter-
mined in accordance with the following table:
‘‘For taxable years beginning
The applicable
in calendar year—
percentage is—
2000 .............................................................................................
170
2001 .............................................................................................
173
2002 .............................................................................................
178
2003 .............................................................................................
183
2004 and thereafter ...................................................................
200.
‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—If any amount determined under
subparagraph (A)(i) is not a multiple of $50, such amount
shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50.’’.
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Subparagraph (A) of section 1(f )(2) of such Code is
amended by inserting ‘‘except as provided in paragraph (8),’’
before ‘‘by increasing’’.
(2) The heading for subsection (f ) of section 1 of such
Code is amended by inserting ‘‘PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PEN-
ALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET;’’ before ‘‘ADJUSTMENTS’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.
SEC. 4. MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF FOR EARNED INCOME CREDIT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 32(b) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to percentages and amounts) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘AMOUNTS.—The earned’’ and inserting
‘‘AMOUNTS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subparagraph (B), the
earned’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a joint return,
the phaseout amount determined under subparagraph (A)
shall be increased by $2,000.’’.
(b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Paragraph (1)(B) of section 32( j)
of such Code (relating to inflation adjustments) is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f )(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined—
H. R. 4810—3
‘‘(i) in the case of amounts in subsections (b)(2)(A)
and (i)(1), by substituting ‘calendar year 1995’ for ‘cal-
endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) of section 1(f )(3),
and
‘‘(ii) in the case of the $2,000 amount in subsection
(b)(2)(B), by substituting ‘calendar year 1999’ for ‘cal-
endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) of section
1(f )(3).’’.
(c) ROUNDING.—Section 32( j)(2)(A) of such Code (relating to
rounding) is amended by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(2)’’ and inserting
‘‘subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2) (after being increased under
subparagraph (B) thereof )’’.
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.
SEC. 5. ALLOWANCE OF NONREFUNDABLE PERSONAL CREDITS
AGAINST REGULAR AND MINIMUM TAX LIABILITY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 26 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to limitation based on tax liability;
definition of tax liability) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) LIMITATION BASED ON AMOUNT OF TAX.—The aggregate
amount of credits allowed by this subpart for the taxable year
shall not exceed the sum of—
‘‘(1) the taxpayer’s regular tax liability for the taxable
year reduced by the foreign tax credit allowable under section
27(a), and
‘‘(2) the tax imposed for the taxable year by section 55(a).’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code is amended
by striking paragraph (2) and by redesignating paragraph (3)
as paragraph (2).
(2) Section 32 of such Code is amended by striking sub-
section (h).
(3) Section 904 of such Code is amended by striking sub-
section (h) and by redesignating subsections (i), ( j), and (k)
as subsections (h), (i), and ( j), respectively.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2001.
SEC. 6. ESTIMATED TAX.
The amendments made by this Act shall not be taken into
account under section 6654 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(relating to failure to pay estimated tax) in determining the amount
of any installment required to be paid before October 1, 2000.
SEC. 7. COMPLIANCE WITH BUDGET ACT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection (b), all
amendments made by this Act which are in effect on September
30, 2005, shall cease to apply as of the close of September 30,
2005.
H. R. 4810—4
(b) SUNSET
FOR CERTAIN PROVISIONS ABSENT SUBSEQUENT
LEGISLATION.—The amendments made by sections 2, 3, 4, and 5
of this Act shall not apply to any taxable year beginning after
December 31, 2004.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.