[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2593 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2593

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restore the deduction for 
                      two-earner married couples.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 1, 1997

Mr. Herger (for himself, Mrs. Kennelly of Connecticut, Mr. Weller, Mr. 
    Crane, Mr. Shaw, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Bunning, Mr. 
Houghton, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Camp, Mr. Nussle, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, 
 Ms. Dunn, Mr. Collins, Mr. Portman, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
    Ensign, Mr. Christensen, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. Neal of 
Massachusetts, and Mr. Coyne) 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 restore the deduction for 
                      two-earner married couples.

    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 ``Marriage Penalty Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF DEDUCTION FOR TWO-EARNER MARRIED COUPLES.

    (a) In General.--Part VII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to additional itemized 
deductions for individuals) is amended by redesignating section 222 as 
section 223 and by inserting after section 221 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 222. DEDUCTION FOR TWO-EARNER MARRIED COUPLES.

    ``(a) Deduction Allowed.--In the case of a joint return for the 
taxable year, there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to 
10 percent of the lesser of--
            ``(1) $30,000, or
            ``(2) the qualified earned income of the spouse with the 
        lower qualified earned income for such taxable year.
    ``(b) Qualified Earned Income.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `qualified earned income' means an amount equal to the excess 
        of--
                    ``(A) the earned income of the spouse for the 
                taxable year, over
                    ``(B) an amount equal to the sum of the deductions 
                described in paragraphs (1), (2), (6), (7), and (12) of 
                section 62(a) to the extent such deductions are 
                properly allocable to or chargeable against earned 
                income described in subparagraph (A).
        The amount of qualified earned income shall be determined 
        without regard to any community property laws.
            ``(2) Earned income.--For purposes of paragraph (1), the 
        term `earned income' means income which is earned income within 
        the meaning of section 911(d)(2) or 401(c)(2)(C), except that--
                    ``(A) such term shall not include any amount--
                            ``(i) not includible in gross income,
                            ``(ii) received as a pension or annuity,
                            ``(iii) paid or distributed out of an 
                        individual retirement plan (within the meaning 
                        of section 7701(a)(37)),
                            ``(iv) received as deferred compensation, 
                        or
                            ``(v) received for services performed by an 
                        individual in the employ of his spouse (within 
                        the meaning of section 3121(b)(3)(A)), and
                    ``(B) section 911(d)(2)(B) shall be applied without 
                regard to the phrase `not in excess of 30 percent of 
                his share of the net profits of such trade or 
                business'.
    ``(d) Deduction Disallowed for Individual Claiming Benefits of 
Section 911 or 931.--No deduction shall be allowed under this section 
for any taxable year if either spouse claims the benefits of section 
911 or 931 for such taxable year.''
    (b) Deduction Allowed Whether or Not Taxpayer Itemizes Other 
Deductions.--Subsection (a) of section 62 of such Code (defining 
adjusted gross income) is amended by inserting after paragraph (17) the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(18) Deduction for two-earner married couples.--The 
        deduction allowed by section 222.''
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 86(b)(2) of such Code is 
        amended by inserting ``222,'' after ``137,''.
            (2) Subsection (f) of section 86 of such Code is amended by 
        striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (3), by redesignating 
        paragraph (4) as paragraph (5), and by inserting after 
        paragraph (3) the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) section 222(b)(2) (defining earned income), and''.
            (3) The table of sections for part VII of subchapter B of 
        chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the item relating 
        to section 222 and inserting the following:

                              ``Sec. 222. Deduction for two-earner 
                                        married couples.
                              ``Sec. 223. Cross reference.''
    (d) 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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