I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2456
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that married couples
may file a combined return under which each spouse is taxed using
the rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 11, 1997
Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mrs. CUBIN, Mrs. KELLY, Mr.
HERGER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BAKER, Mr. BARR of Geor-
gia, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BASS, Mr.
BEREUTER, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr.
BOEHNER, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. BONO, Mr. BRADY, Mr. BRYANT, Mr.
BUNNING of Kentucky, Mr. BURR of North Carolina, Mr. BUYER, Mr.
CALLAHAN, Mr. CANNON, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mrs.
CHENOWETH, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. COBURN, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. COM-
BEST, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. COOK, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. CRAPO, Mr.
CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. DIAZ-
BALART, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DREIER, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. EHLERS, Mr.
EHRLICH, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENSIGN,
Mr. EWING, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. FOX of Penn-
sylvania, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr.
GILMAN, Mr. GOSS, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr.
HASTERT, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HILL,
Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr.
HUNTER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. HYDE, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina,
Mr. ISTOOK, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. JONES, Mr. KIM, Mr. KING of New York,
Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.
LEWIS of California, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.
MANZULLO, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr.
MCINNIS, Mr. MCKEON, Mr. METCALF, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mrs.
MYRICK, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. NEUMANN, Mr. NEY, Mrs. NORTHUP,
Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. PAPPAS,
Mr. PARKER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PAXON, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.
PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POMBO, Mr.
PORTMAN, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. RIGGS, Mr. RILEY, Mr. ROGAN, Mr.
ROGERS, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. BOB
SCHAFFER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mrs.
LINDA SMITH of Washington, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. SOLOMON,
Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STEARNS, Mr. STUMP, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr.
TALENT, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. THUNE, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. UPTON, Mr.
WALSH, Mr. WAMP, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr.
WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. WHITE, Mr.
WICKER, Mr. WOLF, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr.
ARMEY, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. GOODLING, Mr.
HANSEN, Mr. LINDER, Mr. REDMOND, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. RYUN, Mr.
SHIMKUS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. MICA, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr.
ROHRABACHER, Ms. DUNN of Washington, Mr. HORN, Mr. KOLBE, Mr.
CRAMER, Mr. MORAN of Kansas, and Mr. THORNBERRY) 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
that married couples may file a combined return under
which each spouse is taxed using the rates applicable
to unmarried individuals.
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 ‘‘Marriage Tax Elimi-
nation Act’’.
SEC. 2. COMBINED RETURN TO WHICH UNMARRIED RATES
APPLY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part II of sub-
chapter A of chapter 61 of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 (relating to income tax returns) is amended by in-
serting after section 6013 the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 6013A. COMBINED RETURN WITH SEPARATE RATES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—A husband and wife may
make a combined return of income taxes under subtitle
A under which—
‘‘(1) a separate taxable income is determined
for each spouse by applying the rules provided in
this section, and
‘‘(2) the tax imposed by section 1 is the aggre-
gate amount resulting from applying the separate
rates set forth in section 1(c) to each such taxable
income.
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF INCOME.—For purposes of this
section—
‘‘(1) earned income (within the meaning of sec-
tion 911(d)), and any income received as a pension
or annuity which arises from an employer-employee
relationship, shall be treated as the income of the
spouse who rendered the services, and
‘‘(2) income from property shall be divided be-
tween the spouses in accordance with their respec-
tive ownership rights in such property.
‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF DEDUCTIONS.—For purposes of
this section—
‘‘(1) except as otherwise provided in this sub-
section, the deductions allowed by section 62(a) shall
be allowed to the spouse treated as having the in-
come to which such deductions relate,
‘‘(2) the deduction for retirement savings de-
scribed in paragraph (7) of section 62(a) shall be al-
lowed to the spouse for whose benefit the savings are
maintained,
‘‘(3) the deduction for alimony described in
paragraph (10) of section 62(a) shall be allowed to
the spouse who has the liability to pay the alimony,
‘‘(4) the deduction referred to in paragraph
(16) of section 62(a) (relating to contributions to
medical savings accounts) shall be allowed to the
spouse with respect to whose employment or self-em-
ployment such account relates,
‘‘(5) the deductions allowable by section 151
(relating to personal exemptions) shall be deter-
mined by requiring each spouse to claim 1 personal
exemption,
‘‘(6) section 63 shall be applied as if such
spouses were not married, and
‘‘(7) each spouse’s share of all other deductions
(including the deduction for personal exemptions
under section 151(c)) shall be determined by mul-
tiplying the aggregate amount thereof by the frac-
tion—
‘‘(A) the numerator of which is such
spouse’s adjusted gross income, and
‘‘(B) the denominator of which is the com-
bined adjusted gross incomes of the 2 spouses.
Any fraction determined under paragraph (7) shall be
rounded to the nearest percentage point.
‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF CREDITS.—Credits shall be de-
termined (and applied against the joint liability of the cou-
ple for tax) as if the spouses had filed a joint return.
‘‘(e) TREATMENT
AS JOINT RETURN.—Except as
otherwise provided in this section or in the regulations
prescribed hereunder, for purposes of this title (other than
sections 1 and 63(c)) a combined return under this section
shall be treated as a joint return.
‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe
such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to
carry out this section.’’.
(b) UNMARRIED
RATE
MADE
APPLICABLE.—So
much of subsection (c) of section 1 of such Code as pre-
cedes the table is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) SEPARATE OR UNMARRIED RETURN RATE.—
There is hereby imposed on the taxable income of every
individual (other than a married individual (as defined in
section 7703) filing a joint return or a separate return,
a surviving spouse as defined in section 2(a), or a head
of household as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined
in accordance with the following table:’’.
(c) BASIC STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR UNMARRIED
INDIVIDUALS MADE APPLICABLE.—Subparagraph (C) of
section 63(c)(2) of such Code is amended to read as fol-
lows:
‘‘(C) $3,000 in the case of an individual
who is not—
‘‘(i) a married individual filing a joint
return or a separate return,
‘‘(ii) a surviving spouse, or
‘‘(iii) a head of household, or’’.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for subpart B of part II of subchapter A of chapter 61
of such Code is amended by inserting after the item relat-
ing to section 6013 the following:
‘‘Sec. 6013A. Combined return with separate rates.’’
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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