[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3149 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3149

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the amount of 
                        the personal exemption.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1998

  Mr. Thune (for himself and Ms. Dunn) 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 increase the amount of 
                        the personal exemption.

    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 ``Taxpayer Choice Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress hereby finds that--
            (1) the Congressional Budget Office has projected a Federal 
        budget surplus at the end of fiscal year 1998, the first 
        surplus in almost 30 years;
            (2) if there is such a surplus, a systematic plan should be 
        put in place to retire our $5,500,000,000,000 debt while 
        restoring the social security and other trust funds; and
            (3) once such a plan has been adopted in the context of a 
        balanced Federal budget and as an alternative to new Government 
        spending, Congress should provide broad-based tax relief that 
        will allow hard-working Americans to keep more of what they 
        earn and the freedom to provide for their own needs.

SEC. 3. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF PERSONAL EXEMPTION.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (1) of section 151(d) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exemption amount) is amended by 
striking ``$2,000'' and inserting ``$3,400''.
    (b) Adjustment of Phaseout Threshold Amounts.--Subparagraph (C) of 
section 151(d)(3) of such Code is amended--
            (1) by striking ``$150,000'' and inserting ``$186,800'',
            (2) by striking ``$125,000'' and inserting ``$155,650'',
            (3) by striking ``$100,000'' and inserting ``$124,500'', 
        and
            (4) by striking ``$75,000'' and inserting ``$93,400''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Paragraph (4) of section 151(d) of such Code is amended 
        to read as follows:
            ``(4) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any taxable 
        year beginning in a calendar year after 1998, the dollar amount 
        contained in paragraph (1), and each dollar amount contained in 
        paragraph (3)(C), shall be increased by an amount equal to--
                    ``(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by
                    ``(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
                under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
                the taxable year begins, by substituting `calendar year 
                1997' for `calendar year 1992' in subparagraph (B) 
                thereof.''.
            (2) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(6) of such Code is 
        amended by striking ``151(d)(4)(A))'' and inserting ``151(d)(4) 
        as it applies to section 151(d)(1))''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1998.
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