I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2718
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a uniform definition 
of child, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2003
Mr. BROWN of Ohio 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 provide 
a uniform definition of child, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Child Tax Fairness Act of 2003’’. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Act are to imple-
ment the recommendation of the National Taxpayer Advo-
cate, simplify the tax code, and promote fairness for all 
children by establishing a uniform definition of the term 
qualifying child.
TITLE I—UNIFORM DEFINITION 
OF CHILD 
SEC. 101. UNIFORM DEFINITION OF CHILD, ETC. 
Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 152. DEPENDENT DEFINED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this subtitle, the 
term ‘dependent’ means—
‘‘(1) a qualifying child, or 
‘‘(2) a qualifying relative. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—For purposes of this section—
‘‘(1) DEPENDENTS
INELIGIBLE.—If an indi-
vidual is a dependent of a taxpayer for any taxable 
year of such taxpayer beginning in a calendar year, 
such individual shall be treated as having no depend-
ents for any taxable year of such individual begin-
ning in such calendar year. 
‘‘(2) MARRIED
DEPENDENTS.—An individual 
shall not be treated as a dependent of a taxpayer 
under subsection (a) if such individual has made a 
joint return with the individual’s spouse under sec-
tion 6013 for the taxable year beginning in the cal-
endar year in which the taxable year of the taxpayer 
begins.
‘‘(3) CITIZENS OR NATIONALS OF OTHER COUN-
TRIES.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘dependent’ 
does not include an individual who is not a cit-
izen or national of the United States unless 
such individual is a resident of the United 
States or a country contiguous to the United 
States. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR ADOPTED CHILD.—
Subparagraph (A) shall not exclude any child of 
a taxpayer (within the meaning of subsection 
(f)(1)(B)) from the definition of ‘dependent’ 
if—
‘‘(i) for the taxable year of the tax-
payer, the child’s principal place of abode 
is the home of the taxpayer, and 
‘‘(ii) the taxpayer is a citizen or na-
tional of the United States. 
‘‘(c) QUALIFYING CHILD.—For purposes of this sec-
tion—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying child’ 
means, with respect to any taxpayer for any taxable 
year, an individual—
‘‘(A) who bears a relationship to the tax-
payer described in paragraph (2),
‘‘(B) who has the same principal place of 
abode as the taxpayer for more than one-half of 
such taxable year, 
‘‘(C) who meets the age requirements of 
paragraph (3), and 
‘‘(D) who has not provided over one-half of 
such individual’s own support for the calendar 
year in which the taxable year of the taxpayer 
begins. 
‘‘(2) RELATIONSHIP
TEST.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1)(A), an individual bears a relationship 
to the taxpayer described in this paragraph if such 
individual is—
‘‘(A) a child of the taxpayer or a descend-
ant of such a child, or 
‘‘(B) a brother, sister, stepbrother, or step-
sister of the taxpayer or a descendant of any 
such relative, who the taxpayer cares for as the 
taxpayer’s own child. 
‘‘(3) AGE REQUIREMENTS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para-
graph (1)(C), an individual meets the require-
ments of this paragraph if such individual—
‘‘(i) has not attained the age of 19 as 
of the close of the calendar year in which 
the taxable year of the taxpayer begins, or 
‘‘(ii) is a student who has not attained 
the age of 24 as of the close of such cal-
endar year. 
‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR DISABLED.—In 
the case of an individual who is permanently 
and totally disabled (as defined in section 
22(e)(3)) at any time during such calendar 
year, the requirements of subparagraph (A) 
shall be treated as met with respect to such in-
dividual.
‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE RELATING TO 2 OR MORE 
CLAIMING QUALIFYING CHILD.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B) and subsection (e), if (but for 
this paragraph) an individual may be claimed 
as a qualifying child by 2 or more taxpayers for 
a taxable year beginning in the same calendar 
year, such individual shall be treated as the 
qualifying child of the taxpayer who is—
‘‘(i) a parent of the individual, or
‘‘(i) who is presumed by law enforce-
ment authorities to have been kidnapped 
by someone who is not a member of the 
family of such child or the taxpayer, and 
‘‘(ii) who had, for the taxable year in 
which the kidnapping occurred, the same 
principal place of abode as the taxpayer for 
more than one-half of the portion of such 
year before the date of the kidnapping, 
shall be treated as meeting the requirement of 
subsection (c)(1)(B) with respect to a taxpayer 
for all taxable years ending during the period 
that the individual is kidnapped. 
‘‘(B) PURPOSES.—Subparagraph (A) shall 
apply solely for purposes of determining—
‘‘(i) the deduction under section 
151(c), 
‘‘(ii) the credit under section 24 (re-
lating to child tax credit), 
‘‘(iii) whether an individual is a sur-
viving spouse or a head of a household (as 
such terms are defined in section 2), and 
‘‘(iv) the earned income credit under 
section 32.