I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4181 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the 
increased standard deduction, and the 15-percent individual income tax 
rate bracket expansion, for married taxpayers filing joint returns. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 21, 2004 
Mr. GERLACH (for himself, Mr. WELLER, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. 
GREENWOOD, 
Mr. 
VITTER, 
Mr. 
SIMMONS, 
Mr. 
CANTOR, 
Mr. 
HENSARLING, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. TOOMEY, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, 
Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. COX, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BARTLETT 
of Maryland, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. CRENSHAW, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. 
BURR, Mr. FORBES, Mr. KELLER, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. SCHROCK, Mr. 
HAYWORTH, Mr. HERGER, Mr. MCINNIS, Ms. DUNN, Mr. ROGERS of Ala-
bama, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. HAYES, Mr. 
BALLENGER, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. 
ISTOOK, Mr. OTTER, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Mr. WICKER, Mr. 
SHAW, Mr. CRANE, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. 
PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. TIBERI, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. BAR-
RETT of South Carolina, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. CHOCOLA, 
Mr. PORTER, Mr. HALL, Mr. TERRY, Mr. REHBERG, and Mr. SWEENEY) 
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 permanently 
extend the increased standard deduction, and the 15- 
percent individual income tax rate bracket expansion, 
for married taxpayers filing joint returns.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. EXTENSION OF INCREASED STANDARD DEDUC-
TION 
FOR 
MARRIED 
TAXPAYERS 
FILING 
JOINT RETURNS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to basic 
standard deduction) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) BASIC STANDARD DEDUCTION.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), the basic standard deduction 
is— 
‘‘(A) 200 percent of the dollar amount in 
effect under subparagraph (C) for the taxable 
year in the case of— 
‘‘(i) a joint return, or 
‘‘(ii) a surviving spouse (as defined in 
section 2(a)), 
‘‘(B) $4,400 in the case of a head of 
household (as defined in section 2(b)), or 
‘‘(C) $3,000 in any other case.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 63(c)(4) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘(2)(D)’’ each place it occurs and insert-
ing ‘‘(2)(C)’’.
(2) Section 63(c) of such Code is amended by 
striking paragraph (7). 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2004. 
SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF 15-PERCENT INDIVIDUAL INCOME 
TAX RATE BRACKET EXPANSION FOR MAR-
RIED TAXPAYERS FILING JOINT RETURNS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (8) of section 1(f ) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to phaseout 
of marriage penalty in 15-percent bracket) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(8) ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 
15-PERCENT
BRACKET.—With respect to taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2004, in pre-
scribing the tables under paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) the maximum taxable income in the 
15 percent rate bracket in the table contained 
in subsection (a) (and the minimum taxable in-
come in the next higher taxable income bracket 
in such table) shall be 200 percent of the max-
imum taxable income in the 15-percent rate 
bracket in the table contained in subsection (c) 
(after any other adjustment under this sub-
section), and
‘‘(B) 
the 
comparable 
taxable 
income 
amounts in the table contained in subsection 
(d) shall be 1⁄2 of the amounts determined 
under subparagraph (A).’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading for 
subsection (f ) of section 1 of such Code is amended by 
striking ‘‘PHASEOUT’’ and inserting ‘‘ELIMINATION’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2004. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF SUNSET. 
Title IX of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Rec-
onciliation Act of 2001 shall not apply to the amendments 
made by sections 301 and 302 of such Act. 
Æ