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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Elder Care Re-
lief and Empowerment (SECURE) Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR ELDER CARE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by inserting after section 25B the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘SEC. 25C. ELDER CARE EXPENSES. 
‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an in-
dividual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 
imposed by this chapter 50 percent of so much of the 
qualified elder care expenses paid or incurred by the tax-
payer with respect to each qualified senior citizen as ex-
ceeds $1,000. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFIED SENIOR CITIZEN.—For purposes of 
this section, the term ‘qualified senior citizen’ means an 
individual—
‘‘(1) who has attained normal retirement age 
(as determined under section 216 of the Social Secu-
rity Act) before the close of the taxable year, 
‘‘(2) who is a chronically ill individual (within 
the meaning of section 7702B(c)(2)(B)), and 
‘‘(3) who is—
‘‘(A) the taxpayer, 
‘‘(B) a family member (within the meaning 
of section 529(e)(2)) of the taxpayer, or 
‘‘(C) a dependent (within the meaning of 
section 152) of the taxpayer. 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED ELDER CARE EXPENSES.—For pur-
poses of this section—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified elder 
care expenses’ means expenses paid or incurred by
the taxpayer with respect to the qualified senior cit-
izen for—
‘‘(A) qualified long-term care services (as 
defined in section 7702B(c)), 
‘‘(B) respite care, or 
‘‘(C) adult day care. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The term ‘qualified elder 
care expenses’ does not include—
‘‘(A) any expense to the extent such ex-
pense is compensated for by insurance or other-
wise, and 
‘‘(B) any expense paid to a nursing facility 
(as defined in section 1919 of the Social Secu-
rity Act). 
‘‘(d) OTHER DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—
‘‘(1) ADULT DAY CARE.—The term ‘adult day 
care’ means care provided for a qualified senior cit-
izen through a structured, community-based group 
program which provides health, social, and other re-
lated support services on a less than 16-hour per 
day basis. 
‘‘(2) RESPITE CARE.—The term ‘respite care’ 
means planned or emergency care provided to a 
qualified senior citizen in order to provide temporary 
relief to a caregiver of such senior citizen.
‘‘(3) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—Rules similar to 
the rules of paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of section 
21(e) shall apply for purposes of this section. 
‘‘(4) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction or 
other credit under this chapter shall take into ac-
count any expense taken into account for purposes 
of determining the credit under this section. 
‘‘(5) IDENTIFYING
INFORMATION
REQUIRED 
WITH RESPECT TO SERVICE PROVIDER.—No credit 
shall be allowed under subsection (a) for any amount 
paid to any person unless—
‘‘(A) the name, address, and taxpayer 
identification number of such person are in-
cluded on the return claiming the credit, or 
‘‘(B) if such person is an organization de-
scribed in section 501(c)(3) and exempt from 
tax under section 501(a), the name and address 
of such person are included on the return 
claiming the credit. 
In the case of a failure to provide the information 
required under the preceding sentence, the preceding 
sentence shall not apply if it is shown that the tax-
payer exercised due diligence in attempting to pro-
vide the information so required.
‘‘(6) IDENTIFYING
INFORMATION
REQUIRED 
WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFIED SENIOR CITIZENS.—
No credit shall be allowed under this section with re-
spect to any qualified senior citizen unless the TIN 
of such senior citizen is included on the return 
claiming the credit.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 6213(g)(2)(H) (relating to mathe-
matical or clerical error) is amended by inserting ‘‘, 
section 25C (relating to elder care expenses),’’ after 
‘‘employment)’’. 
(2) The table of sections for subpart A of part 
IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 25B the following new item:
‘‘Sec. 25C. Elder care expenses.’’.
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to expenses incurred in taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2003.
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