I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2446
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the 
marriage penalty tax relief enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
Reconciliation Act of 2003. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 12, 2003
Mr. WELLER
(for himself, Mr. YOUNG
of Alaska, Mr. CRANE, Mr. 
HAYWORTH, Mr. HAYES, Mr. NEY, Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. 
WAMP, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. REHBERG, Mr. TERRY, 
Mrs. MYRICK, and Mr. LAHOOD) 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 marriage penalty tax relief enacted by the 
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.
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 ‘‘Permanent Marriage 
Tax Elimination Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. INCREASE IN STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR MARRIED 
TAXPAYERS FILING JOINT RETURNS MADE 
PERMANENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to basic 
standard deduction), as amended by section 301 of the 
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 
2001 and section 103 of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
Reconciliation Act of 2003, 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, as amended 
by section 301 of such Act, is amended by striking 
‘‘(2)(D)’’ each place it occurs and inserting 
‘‘(2)(C)’’.
(2) Section 63(c) of such Code, as so amended, 
is amended by striking paragraph (7). 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2003. 
SEC. 3. ACCELERATION OF 15-PERCENT INDIVIDUAL IN-
COME TAX RATE BRACKET EXPANSION FOR 
MARRIED 
TAXPAYERS 
FILING 
JOINT 
RE-
TURNS. 
(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), as amended 
by section 302 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief 
Reconciliation Act of 2001 and section 102 of the Jobs 
and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(8) ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 
15-PERCENT
BRACKET.—With respect to taxable 
years beginning after December 31, 2002, 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, as so amended, 
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, 2002. 
SEC. 4. PROVISIONS MADE PERMANENT. 
Title IX of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Rec-
onciliation Act of 2001 shall not apply to—
(1) the amendments made by sections 301 and 
302 of such Act, and 
(2) the amendments made by this Act.
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