I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 6
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage
penalty by providing that the income tax rate bracket amounts, and
the amount of the standard deduction, for joint returns shall be twice
the amounts applicable to unmarried individuals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 10, 1999
Mr. WELLER (for himself, Mr. MCINTOSH, Ms. DANNER, Mr. RILEY, Mr.
HERGER, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BAKER, Mr.
BALLENGER, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. BARTLETT of
Maryland, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BARRETT of Nebraska, Mr. BE-
REUTER, Ms. BIGGERT, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BLUNT, Mr.
BOEHLERT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. BONILLA, Mrs. BONO, Mr. BRADY of
Texas, Mr. BRYANT, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BURR of North Caro-
lina, Mr. BUYER, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. CANNON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr.
CHAMBLISS, Mrs. CHENOWETH, Mr. CLEMENT, Mr. COBLE, Mr.
COBURN, Mr. COLLINS, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. COX, Mr. CRANE, Mrs.
CUBIN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia, Mr. DEAL of Georgia,
Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. DREIER, Mr. DUN-
CAN, Ms. DUNN, Mr. DEMINT, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. ENGLISH, Mrs. EMER-
SON, Mr. EWING, Mr. FLETCHER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. FORBES, Mr.
FOSSELLA, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. GIBBONS, Mr. GILCHREST,
Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. GOODE, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. GOOD-
LING, Mr. GOSS, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. GREEN-
WOOD, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Washing-
ton, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. HAYES, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. HILL
of Montana, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. HORN, Mr.
HOSTETTLER, Mr. HULSHOF, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr.
ISTOOK, Mr. JENKINS, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. SAM JOHNSON
of Texas, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. KING, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. KOLBE, Mr.
KUYKENDALL, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mr.
LAZIO, Mr. LEACH, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. LINDER, Mr. LIPINSKI,
Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. LUCAS
of Oklahoma, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr.
METCALF, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. MCCOL-
LUM, Mr. MCCRERY, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr.
MCKEON, Mr. NEY, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr. NUSSLE, Mr.
OSE, Mr. OXLEY, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. PAUL, Mr. PEASE, Mr. PETRI, Mr.
PETERSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. PITTS, Mr. POMBO, Mr.
PORTER, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr.
RAMSTAD, Mr. REGULA, Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. ROHR-
ABACHER, Mr. ROGERS, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. RYAN of Wis-
consin, Mr. RYUN of Kansas, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. SCAR-
BOROUGH, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SESSIONS, Mr.
SHAYS, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SHAW, Mr. SHERWOOD, Mr. SHOWS, Mr.
SHUSTER, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. SKEEN, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. SMITH of New
Jersey, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STEARNS,
Mr. STUMP, Mr. SUNUNU, Mr. SWEENEY, Mr. TALENT, Mr. TANCREDO,
Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. TAUZIN, Mr. HOUGHTON, Mr. TERRY, Mr. THOMP-
SON of Mississippi, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UPTON, Mr. WALDEN,
Mr. WAMP, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma, Mr. WELDON of
Florida, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mrs. WILSON, Mr. WOLF, Mr. YOUNG of Alas-
ka, Mr. CALLAHAN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DELAY, Mr. YOUNG of Florida,
Mr. QUINN, Mr. ROGAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. LIVINGSTON, Mr.
BASS, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. COOK, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. EVERETT,
Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. HYDE, Mr. LEWIS of California, Mrs.
NORTHUP, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. KINGSTON,
Mrs. JOHNSON
of Connecticut, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. CONDIT, Ms.
STABENOW, Mr. FORD, Mr. WICKER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr.
CRAMER, Mr. TOOMEY, Mr. GARY MILLER of California, Mr. KASICH,
Mr. MORAN of Virginia, and Mr. RAHALL) 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 eliminate
the marriage penalty by providing that the income tax
rate bracket amounts, and the amount of the standard
deduction, for joint returns shall be twice the amounts
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; AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Marriage Tax Elimination Act of 1999’’.
(b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other-
wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) SECTION 15 NOT TO APPLY.—No amendment
made by section 2 shall be treated as a change in a rate
of tax for purposes of section 15 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 .
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN INDIVID-
UAL INCOME TAX RATES.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Section 1 (relating to tax im-
posed) is amended by striking subsections (a) through (e)
and inserting the following:
‘‘(a) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS FILING JOINT RETURNS
AND SURVIVING SPOUSES.—There is hereby imposed on
the taxable income of—
‘‘(1) every married individual (as defined in sec-
tion 7703) who makes a single return jointly with
his spouse under section 6013, and
‘‘(2) every surviving spouse (as defined in sec-
tion 2(a)),
a tax determined in accordance with the following table:
‘‘If taxable income is:
The tax is:
Not over $51,500 ..........................
15% of taxable income.
‘‘If taxable income is:
The tax is:
Over 
$51,500 
but 
not 
over
$124,900.
$7,725, plus 28% of the excess over
$51,500
Over 
$124,900 
but 
not 
over
$260,500.
$28,277, plus 31% of the excess over
$124,900
Over 
$260,500 
but 
not 
over
$566,300.
$70,313, plus 36% of the excess over
$260,500
Over $566,300................ ...............
$180,401, plus 39.6% of the excess
over $566,300.
‘‘(b) HEADS OF HOUSEHOLDS.—There is hereby im-
posed on the taxable income of every head of a household
(as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined in accordance
with the following table:
‘‘If taxable income is:
The tax is:
Not over $34,550 ..........................
15% of taxable income.
Over 
$34,550 
but 
not 
over
$89,150.
$5,182.50, plus 28% of the excess
over $34,550.
Over 
$89,150 
but 
not 
over
$144,400.
$20,470.50, plus 31% of the excess
over $89,150.
Over 
$144,400 
but 
not 
over
$283,150.
$37,598, plus 36% of the excess over
$144,400.
Over $283,150 ...............................
$87,548, plus 39.6% of the excess
over $283,150.
‘‘(c) OTHER INDIVIDUALS.—There is hereby imposed
on the taxable income of every individual (other than an
individual to whom subsection (a) or (b) applies) a tax
determined in accordance with the following table:
‘‘If taxable income is:
The tax is:
Not over $25,750 ..........................
15% of taxable income.
Over 
$25,750 
but 
not 
over
$62,450.
$3,862.50, plus 28% of the excess
over $25,750.
Over 
$62,450 
but 
not 
over
$130,250.
$14,138.50, plus 31% of the excess
over $62,450.
Over 
$130,250 
but 
not 
over
$283,150.
$35,156.50, plus 36% of the excess
over $130,250.
Over $283,150 ...............................
$90,200.50, plus 39.6% of the excess
over $283,150.
‘‘(d) ESTATES AND TRUSTS.—There is hereby im-
posed on the taxable income of—