I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3195 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income 
amounts received on account of claims based on certain unlawful dis-
crimination and to allow income averaging for backpay and frontpay 
awards received on account of such claims, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 13, 2011 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia (for himself and Mr. SENSENBRENNER) 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 exclude 
from gross income amounts received on account of claims 
based on certain unlawful discrimination and to allow 
income averaging for backpay and frontpay awards re-
ceived on account of such claims, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Tax Relief 
Act of 2011’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR AMOUNTS 
RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN UNLAW-
FUL DISCRIMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended 
by inserting before section 140 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 139F. AMOUNTS RECEIVED ON ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN 
UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION. 
‘‘(a) EXCLUSION.—Gross income does not include 
amounts received by a claimant (whether by suit or agree-
ment and whether as lump sums or periodic payments) 
on account of a claim of unlawful discrimination (as de-
fined by section 62(e)). 
‘‘(b) AMOUNTS COVERED.—For purposes of sub-
section (a), the term ‘amounts’ does not include— 
‘‘(1) backpay or frontpay, as defined in section 
1302(b), or 
‘‘(2) punitive damages.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code 
is amended by inserting before the item relating to section 
140 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 139F. Amounts received on account of certain unlawful discrimination.’’. 
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(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to amounts received in taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2010. 
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON TAX BASED ON INCOME AVER-
AGING FOR BACKPAY AND FRONTPAY RE-
CEIVED ON ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN UNLAW-
FUL EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part I of subchapter Q of chapter 
1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to in-
come averaging) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1302. INCOME FROM BACKPAY AND FRONTPAY RE-
CEIVED ON ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN UNLAW-
FUL EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—If employment discrimination 
backpay or frontpay is received by a taxpayer during a 
taxable year, the tax imposed by this chapter for such tax-
able year shall not exceed the sum of— 
‘‘(1) the tax which would be so imposed if— 
‘‘(A) no amount of such backpay or 
frontpay were included in gross income for such 
year, and 
‘‘(B) no deduction were allowed for such 
year for expenses (otherwise allowable as a de-
duction to the taxpayer for such year) in con-
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