[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 6

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the marriage 
  penalty by providing for adjustments to the standard deduction, 15-
    percent rate bracket, and earned income credit and to allow the 
    nonrefundable personal credits against regular and minimum tax 
                               liability.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2001

   Mr. Weller (for himself, Mr. Barcia, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Kerns, Mr. 
Aderholt, Mr. Akin, Mr. Armey, Mr. Baird, Mr. Baker, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. 
  Barr of Georgia, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. 
    Bass, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Bereuter, Ms. Berkley, Mrs. Biggert, Mr. 
   Bilirakis, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. 
 Bonilla, Mrs. Bono, Mr. Brady of Texas, Mr. Brown of South Carolina, 
  Mr. Bryant, Mr. Burr of North Carolina, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. 
Buyer, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Camp, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Cantor, Mr. 
Chabot, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coble, Mr. Collins, Mrs. Cubin, Mr. Combest, 
   Mr. Cooksey, Mr. Cox, Mr. Crane, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Culberson, Mr. 
  Cunningham, Mrs. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. 
DeMint, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Dreier, Mr. Duncan, Ms. Dunn, Mr. Ehlers, 
 Mr. Isakson, Mr. Ehrlich, Mr. English, Mrs. Emerson, Mr. Everett, Mr. 
    Ferguson, Mr. Flake, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Foley, Mr. Fossella, Mr. 
 Frelinghuysen, Mr. Gallegly, Mr. Gekas, Mr. Ganske, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. 
Gilchrest, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Goode, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Gordon, Mr. Goss, 
   Mr. Graham, Ms. Granger, Mr. Graves, Mr. Green of Wisconsin, Mr. 
    Greenwood, Mr. Grucci, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Hansen, Ms. Hart, Mr. 
   Hastings of Washington, Mr. Hayes, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. Hefley, Mr. 
Herger, Mr. Hilleary, Mr. Hobson, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr. Holt, Mr. Horn, Mr. 
Hostettler, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Hulshof, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. 
 Hyde, Mr. Issa, Mr. Istook, Mr. Jenkins, Mrs. Johnson of Connecticut, 
 Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Illinois, Mr. Jones of North 
    Carolina, Mr. Keller, Mrs. Kelly, Mr. Kennedy of Minnesota, Mr. 
Knollenberg, Mr. King, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Kolbe, Mr. Largent, 
    Mr. Latham, Mr. LaHood, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Leach, Mr. Lewis of 
    Kentucky, Mr. Linder, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Lucas of 
 Oklahoma, Mr. Maloney of Connecticut, Mr. Manzullo, Mrs. McCarthy of 
   New York, Mr. McCrery, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. McHugh, Mr. 
McInnis, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Mica, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mr. 
 Gary Miller of California, Mr. Moran of Kansas, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Ney, 
Mr. Nethercutt, Mrs. Northup, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Nussle, Mr. Osborne, Mr. 
    Ose, Mr. Otter, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Paul, Mr. Pence, Mr. Peterson of 
  Pennsylvania, Mr. Petri, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Platts, Mr. 
   Pombo, Mr. Portman, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Quinn, Mr. 
  Radanovich, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. Regula, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Reynolds, Mr. 
Riley, Mrs. Roukema, Mr. Roemer, Mr. Rogers of Kentucky, Mr. Rogers of 
 Michigan, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Royce, Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin, Mr. Ryun 
of Kansas, Mr. Scarborough, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Schaffer, Mr. Schrock, Mr. 
  Sensenbrenner, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Shays, Mr. 
Sherwood, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Shows, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Skeen, Mr. Smith of 
 New Jersey, Mr. Smith of Texas, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Souder, Mr. Spence, 
   Mr. Stearns, Mr. Stump, Mr. Sununu, Mr. Sweeney, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. 
   Tancredo, Mr. Taylor of North Carolina, Mr. Terry, Mr. Thune, Mr. 
 Tiahrt, Mr. Tiberi, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Upton, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Wamp, Mr. 
  Walden of Oregon, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Weldon of 
Florida, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Wolf, Mr. Young of 
   Florida, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Walsh, Mr. Thornberry, and Mr. 
   Condit) 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 reduce the marriage 
  penalty by providing for adjustments to the standard deduction, 15-
    percent rate bracket, and earned income credit and to allow the 
    nonrefundable personal credits against regular and minimum tax 
                               liability.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Marriage Tax 
Elimination Act of 2001''.
    (b) Section 15 Not To Apply.--No amendment made by this Act shall 
be treated as a change in a rate of tax for purposes of section 15 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN STANDARD DEDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to standard deduction) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``$5,000'' in subparagraph (A) and 
        inserting ``200 percent of the dollar amount in effect under 
        subparagraph (C) for the taxable year'';
            (2) by adding ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (B);
            (3) by striking ``in the case of'' and all that follows in 
        subparagraph (C) and inserting ``in any other case.''; and
            (4) by striking subparagraph (D).
    (b) Technical Amendments.--
            (1) Subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(6) of such Code is 
        amended by striking ``(other than with'' and all that follows 
        through ``shall be applied'' and inserting ``(other than with 
        respect to sections 63(c)(4) and 151(d)(4)(A)) shall be 
        applied''.
            (2) Paragraph (4) of section 63(c) of such Code is amended 
        by adding at the end the following flush sentence:
        ``The preceding sentence shall not apply to the amount referred 
        to in paragraph (2)(A).''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.

SEC. 3. PHASEOUT OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN 15-PERCENT BRACKET.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (f) of section 1 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to adjustments in tax tables so that 
inflation will not result in tax increases) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph:
            ``(8) Phaseout of marriage penalty in 15-percent bracket.--
                    ``(A) In general.--With respect to taxable years 
                beginning after December 31, 2000, in prescribing the 
                tables under paragraph (1)--
                            ``(i) the maximum taxable income in the 
                        lowest rate bracket in the table contained in 
                        subsection (a) (and the minimum taxable income 
in the next higher taxable income bracket in such table) shall be the 
applicable percentage of the maximum taxable income in the lowest rate 
bracket in the table contained in subsection (c) (after any other 
adjustment under this subsection), and
                            ``(ii) the comparable taxable income 
                        amounts in the table contained in subsection 
                        (d) shall be \1/2\ of the amounts determined 
                        under clause (i).
                    ``(B) Applicable percentage.--For purposes of 
                subparagraph (A), the applicable percentage shall be 
                determined in accordance with the following table:

                ``For taxable years beginning
                                                         The applicable
                  in calendar year--
                                                        percentage is--
                    2001...................................        170 
                    2002...................................        173 
                    2003...................................        178 
                    2004...................................        183 
                    2005 and thereafter....................       200. 
                    ``(C) Rounding.--If any amount determined under 
                subparagraph (A)(i) is not a multiple of $50, such 
                amount shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of 
                $50.''.
    (b) Technical Amendments.--
            (1) Subparagraph (A) of section 1(f)(2) of such Code is 
        amended by inserting ``except as provided in paragraph (8),'' 
        before ``by increasing''.
            (2) The heading for subsection (f) of section 1 of such 
        Code is amended by inserting ``Phaseout of Marriage Penalty in 
        15-Percent Bracket;'' before ``Adjustments''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.

SEC. 4. MARRIAGE PENALTY RELIEF FOR EARNED INCOME CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 32(b) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to percentages and amounts) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Amounts.--The earned'' and inserting 
        ``Amounts.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
                earned''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(B) Joint returns.--In the case of a joint 
                return, the phaseout amount determined under 
                subparagraph (A) shall be increased by $2,000.''.
    (b) Inflation Adjustment.--Paragraph (1)(B) of section 32(j) of 
such Code (relating to inflation adjustments) is amended to read as 
follows:
                    ``(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined 
                under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which 
                the taxable year begins, determined--
                            ``(i) in the case of amounts in subsections 
                        (b)(2)(A) and (i)(1), by substituting `calendar 
                        year 1995' for `calendar year 1992' in 
                        subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(3), and
                            ``(ii) in the case of the $2,000 amount in 
                        subsection (b)(2)(B), by substituting `calendar 
                        year 2000' for `calendar year 1992' in 
                        subparagraph (B) of section 1(f)(3).''.
    (c) Rounding.--Section 32(j)(2)(A) of such Code (relating to 
rounding) is amended by striking ``subsection (b)(2)'' and inserting 
``subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(2) (after being increased under 
subparagraph (B) thereof)''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.

SEC. 5. ALLOWANCE OF NONREFUNDABLE PERSONAL CREDITS AGAINST REGULAR AND 
              MINIMUM TAX LIABILITY.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 26 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to limitation based on tax liability; 
definition of tax liability) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(a) Limitation Based on Amount of Tax.--The aggregate amount of 
credits allowed by this subpart for the taxable year shall not exceed 
the sum of--
            ``(1) the taxpayer's regular tax liability for the taxable 
        year reduced by the foreign tax credit allowable under section 
        27(a), and
            ``(2) the tax imposed for the taxable year by section 
        55(a).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Subsection (d) of section 24 of such Code is amended by 
        striking paragraph (2) and by redesignating paragraph (3) as 
        paragraph (2).
            (2) Section 32 of such Code is amended by striking 
        subsection (h).
            (3) Section 904 of such Code is amended by striking 
        subsection (h) and by redesignating subsections (i), (j), and 
        (k) as subsections (h), (i), and (j), respectively.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2000.
                                 <all>