I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1244 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that all provisions 
shall apply to legally married same-sex couples in the same manner 
as other married couples, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 14, 2019 
Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Mr. BERA, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLU-
MENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. 
JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. CLARK of 
Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. COX of Cali-
fornia, Mrs. CRAIG, Mr. CRIST, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. 
DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. GABBARD, 
Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. HECK, Mr. HIGGINS 
of New York, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 
HUFFMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 
KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
LOWENTHAL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOORE, Mr. NADLER, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 
PAPPAS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 
RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. 
SLOTKIN, Mr. STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, Ms. 
TLAIB, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. 
WILD, and Mrs. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify 
that all provisions shall apply to legally married same- 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:32 Feb 28, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H1244.IH
H1244
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
sex couples in the same manner as other married couples, 
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 ‘‘Equal Dignity for Mar-
ried Taxpayers Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. RULES RELATING TO ALL LEGALLY MARRIED COU-
PLES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended— 
(1) in section 21(d)(2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘HIMSELF’’ in the heading 
and inserting ‘‘SELF’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘any husband and wife’’ 
and inserting ‘‘any married couple’’; 
(2) in section 22(e)(1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘husband and wife who 
live’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple who lives’’; 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘the taxpayer and his 
spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘the taxpayer and the 
spouse of the taxpayer’’; 
(3) in section 38(c)(6)(A), by striking ‘‘husband 
or wife who files’’ and inserting ‘‘married individual 
who files’’; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:32 Feb 28, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1244.IH
H1244
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
(4) in section 42(j)(5)(C), by striking clause (i) 
and inserting the following new clause: 
‘‘(i) MARRIED COUPLE TREATED AS 1 
PARTNER.—For purposes of subparagraph 
(B), individuals married to one another 
(and their estates) shall be treated as 1 
partner.’’; 
(5) in section 62(b)(3)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘husband and wife who 
lived apart’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple 
who lived apart’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘the taxpayer and his 
spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘the taxpayer and 
the spouse of the taxpayer’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 
(6) in section 121— 
(A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife who make’’ and inserting ‘‘mar-
ried couple who makes’’; and 
(B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife make’’ and inserting ‘‘married 
couple makes’’; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:32 Feb 28, 2019
Jkt 089200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1244.IH
H1244
kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS