Title: Emergency Family Relief Act of 2020
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Emergency Family Relief Act of 2020
This bill allows a new refundable tax credit for emergency family relief payments in response to COVID-19 (i.e., the coronavirus disease 2019).
Specifically, the Department of the Treasury must establish a program for making emergency family relief credit payments on a monthly basis for the period prior to January 1, 2021, without respect to tax liability, for taxpayers with dependent children equal to $1,288 for a two-person household, $1,446 for a three-person household, and $1,786 for a four-person household. For households larger that four persons, the credit amount is $1,786, plus $420 for each additional household member. These credits amounts are phased out for a taxpayer with a modified adjusted gross income exceeding $50,000 ($100,000 for a joint return).

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3516

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide emergency family 
           relief in response to the outbreak of the NCOV-19.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 18, 2020

  Mr. Hawley introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide emergency family 
           relief in response to the outbreak of the NCOV-19.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Emergency Family Relief Act of 
2020''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NCOV-19 EMERGENCY FAMILY RELIEF.

    (a) Establishment of NCOV-19 Emergency Family Relief Credit.--
Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of subtitle A of such 
Code is amended by inserting the following new section:

``SEC. 36D. NCOV-19 EMERGENCY FAMILY RELIEF.

    ``(a) In General.--As soon as practicable and not later than two 
weeks after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 
shall establish a program for making emergency family relief credit 
payments, including electronic payments, on a monthly basis, without 
respect to tax liability, for each citizen residing with a dependent 
qualifying child equal to the sum of--
            ``(1) with respect to a two-person household, $1,288 per 
        full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for 
        each partial emergency family relief period.
            ``(2) with respect to a three-person household, $1,446 per 
        full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for 
        each partial emergency family relief period.
            ``(3) with respect to a four-person household, $1,786 per 
        full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for 
        each partial emergency family relief period.
            ``(4) with respect to a household larger than a four-person 
        household, an amount equaling $1,786, plus $420 per each 
        additional household member beyond the fourth, per full 
        emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for each 
        partial emergency family relief period
    ``(b) Pro Rata Amounts.--The pro rata amount for each partial 
emergency family relief period shall be calculated by multiplying the 
monthly amount for a full emergency family relief period that would be 
paid to the beneficiary based on household size for such a period by 
the percentage calculated by dividing the number of days of the partial 
emergency family relief period by the number of days of the month 
during which the majority of the emergency family relief period occurs, 
or, if the emergency family relief period is an even number of days, by 
the number of days of the shorter month during which it falls.
    ``(c) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Credit phase out.--The amount of the credit allowable 
        under subsection (a) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by 
        $50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the 
        beneficiary's modified adjusted gross income exceeds the 
        threshold amount. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the 
        term `modified adjusted gross income' means adjusted gross 
        income based on the most recent information submitted by the 
        beneficiary in a form deemed appropriate for the application 
        process by the Secretary of the Treasury and increased by any 
        amount excluded from gross income under section 911, 931, or 
        933.
            ``(2) Threshold amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph (1), 
                the term `threshold amount' means--
                            ``(i) $100,000 in the case of a joint 
                        return; and
                            ``(ii) $50,000 in the case of an individual 
                        return.
            ``(3) Household limit.--Emergency family relief credit 
        payments may only be claimed by one member of a household, and 
        only one credit may be claimed per residence.
                    ``(A) Marital status.--For purposes of this 
                paragraph, marital status shall be determined under 
                section 7703.
    ``(d) Qualifying Child.--
            ``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `qualifying 
        child' means a qualifying child of the filer (as defined in 
        section 152(c)) who has not attained 18 years of age.
            ``(2) Exception for certain non-citizens.--The term 
        `qualifying child' shall not include any individual who would 
        not be a dependent if subparagraph (A) of section 152(b)(3) 
        were applied without regard to all that follows `resident of 
        the United States'.
    ``(e) Application and Verification.--
            ``(1) Application.--The Secretary of Treasury shall 
        establish an expedited process by which citizens may apply for 
        and provide all necessary information to maintain access to 
        installments of the emergency family relief credit outside the 
        annual tax return process utilizing--
                    ``(A) information from the beneficiary's most 
                recent tax return if the beneficiary has filed 
                previously and such return is for 2018 or 2019, and
                    ``(B) any additional or alternative information 
                submissions deemed necessary by the Secretary of the 
                Treasury to facilitate application, verification of 
                eligibility for, and prompt delivery of the emergency 
                family relief credit.
            ``(2) Verification.--No credit shall be allowed under this 
        section to a taxpayer on the basis of his or her residing with 
        other household members unless the taxpayer has provided the 
        name and taxpayer identification number of each such household 
        member in a manner deemed appropriate for the application 
        process by the Secretary of the Treasury.
    ``(f) Relief Periods.--
            ``(1) Emergency family relief period.--Beginning on the 
        date of enactment, an emergency family relief period shall 
        encompass any monthlong period prior to January 1, 2021--
                    ``(A) during which time an elementary or secondary 
                school as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7801) or place of care attended by a dependent 
                child has been closed, or a child care provider of such 
                child who receives compensation for providing child 
                care services on a regular basis is unavailable, due to 
                an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a 
                Federal, state, or local authority, or
                    ``(B) during which time the filer or the filer's 
                spouse has experienced economic hardship including job 
                loss, lost wages, or lost self-employment income, due 
                to an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a 
                Federal, state, or local authority.
            ``(2) Partial emergency family relief period.--Beginning on 
        the date of enactment, a partial emergency family relief period 
        shall encompass any period shorter than one month prior to 
        January 1, 2021--
                    ``(A) during which time an elementary or secondary 
                school as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the 
                Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 7801) or place of care attended by a dependent 
                child has been closed, or a child care provider of such 
                child who receives compensation for providing child 
                care services on a regular basis is unavailable, due to 
                an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a 
                Federal, state, or local authority, or
                    ``(B) during which time the filer or the filer's 
                spouse has experienced economic hardship including job 
                loss, lost wages, or lost self-employment income, due 
                to an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a 
                Federal, state, or local authority.
            ``(3) Overlap.--For the purpose of calculating a filer's 
        emergency family relief credits, no emergency family relief 
        period or partial emergency family relief period may overlap 
        with another emergency family relief period or partial 
        emergency family relief period, nor shall multiple partial 
        emergency family relief periods be counted both immediately 
        prior to and immediately subsequent to a full emergency family 
        relief period.
    ``(g) Treatment of Emergency Family Relief Credits for Income Tax 
Purposes.--
            ``(1) Payments not to be taxed .--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, no amount received as an emergency family 
        relief credit shall be treated as income for the purpose of 
        calculating Federal, state, or local tax liability.''.
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