[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 131 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 131

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a deduction from 
 gross income for home care and adult day and respite care expenses of 
 individual taxpayers with respect to a dependent of the taxpayer who 
  suffers from Alzheimer's disease or related organic brain disorders.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 19, 1999

   Ms. Snowe 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 allow a deduction from 
 gross income for home care and adult day and respite care expenses of 
 individual taxpayers with respect to a dependent of the taxpayer who 
  suffers from Alzheimer's disease or related organic brain disorders.

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

SECTION 1. DEDUCTION ALLOWANCE FOR HOME HEALTH CARE AND ADULT DAY AND 
              RESPITE CARE EXPENSES OF INDIVIDUALS FOR DEPENDENTS WITH 
              ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR RELATED ORGANIC BRAIN DISORDERS.

    (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. HOME HEALTH CARE AND ADULT DAY AND RESPITE CARE EXPENSES 
              FOR DEPENDENTS WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE OR RELATED 
              ORGANIC BRAIN DISORDERS.

    ``(a) Deduction Allowed.--In the case of an individual who 
maintains a household which includes a qualified dependent of such 
individual, there shall be allowed as a deduction the qualified home 
health care and adult day respite care expenses of such individual with 
respect to such dependent.
    ``(b) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified dependent.--The term `qualified dependent' 
        means any individual (including the spouse of the taxpayer but 
        not including the taxpayer) who--
                    ``(A) has as his principal place of abode the 
                principal residence of the taxpayer, and is a member of 
                the taxpayer's household, for more than 180 days of the 
                calendar year during which the taxable year of the 
                taxpayer begins,
                    ``(B) is a dependent of the taxpayer (within the 
                meaning given to such term by subsection (a) of section 
                152 other than paragraph (9) of such subsection) for 
                such calendar year, and
                    ``(C) at the close of such calendar year, suffers 
                from Alzheimer's disease (or a related organic brain 
                disorder) and is physically or mentally incapable of 
                caring for himself, as determined by a physician.
            ``(2) Qualified home health care and adult day and respite 
        care expenses.--The term `qualified home health care and adult 
        day and respite care expenses' means the excess of--
                    ``(A) the reasonable and necessary expenses paid or 
                incurred by the taxpayer for--
                            ``(i) household services for a qualified 
                        dependent, and
                            ``(ii) the care (including respite care) of 
                        such dependent in the home or in an adult day 
                        care center, over
                    ``(B) the reasonable and necessary expenses such 
                taxpayer would have paid or incurred for household 
                services for, and the care of, such qualified dependent 
                if such dependent had been capable of caring for 
                himself.
            ``(3) Physician.--The term `physician' has the meaning 
        given to such term by section 1861(r) of the Social Security 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(r)).
    ``(c) Special Rules.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Maintaining a household.--An individual shall be 
        treated as maintaining a household for any period only if over 
        half the cost of maintaining the household for such period is 
        furnished by such individual (or, if the individual is married, 
        by the individual and his spouse).
            ``(2) Married couple must file joint return.--If the 
        taxpayer is married at the close of the taxable year, the 
        deduction shall be allowed under subsection (a) only if the 
        taxpayer and his spouse file a joint return under section 6013 
        for the taxable year.
    ``(d) Certification of Diagnosis by Physician.--Any determination 
by a physician that--
            ``(1) an individual suffers from Alzheimer's disease or a 
        related organic brain disorder, and
            ``(2) such individual is mentally or physically incapable 
        of caring for himself,
shall be certified by the physician to the Secretary at such time and 
in such manner as the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe.
    ``(e) Coordination With Sections 21 and 213.--If any amount 
allowable as a deduction under this section would (but for this 
subsection) also be taken into account for purposes of determining the 
amount of any credit allowable under section 21 (relating to expenses 
for household and dependent care services necessary for gainful 
employment) or any deduction allowable under section 213 (relating to 
medical, dental, etc. expenses), this section shall apply only if the 
taxpayer elects its application. If this section is elected with 
respect to any amount, such amount shall not be taken into account 
under section 21 or 213. Such election shall be made at such time and 
in such manner as the Secretary shall by regulation prescribe.''
    (b) Deduction Allowed in Arriving at Adjusted Gross Income.--
Section 62(a) of such Code (defining adjusted gross income) is amended 
by inserting after paragraph (17) the following new paragraph:
            ``(18) Qualified home health care and adult day and respite 
        care expenses.--The deduction allowed by section 222.''
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part VII of 
subchapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by striking the last 
item and inserting the following new items:

                              ``Sec. 222. Home health care and adult 
                                        day and respite care expenses 
                                        for dependents with Alzheimer's 
                                        disease or related organic 
                                        brain disorders.
                              ``Sec. 223. Cross reference.''
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.
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