[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2446 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2446

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the 
 marriage penalty tax relief enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
                      Reconciliation Act of 2003.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 12, 2003

Mr. Weller (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Crane, Mr. Hayworth, 
Mr. Hayes, Mr. Ney, Mr. Garrett of New Jersey, Mr. Wamp, Mr. Barrett of 
 South Carolina, Mr. Rehberg, Mr. Terry, Mrs. Myrick, and Mr. LaHood) 
 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 permanently extend the 
 marriage penalty tax relief enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
                      Reconciliation Act of 2003.

    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 ``Permanent Marriage Tax Elimination 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. INCREASE IN STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR MARRIED TAXPAYERS FILING 
              JOINT RETURNS MADE PERMANENT.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to basic standard deduction), as amended 
by section 301 of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 
of 2001 and section 103 of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief 
Reconciliation Act of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Basic standard deduction.--For purposes of paragraph 
        (1), the basic standard deduction is--
                    ``(A) 200 percent of the dollar amount in effect 
                under subparagraph (C) for the taxable year in the case 
                of--
                            ``(i) a joint return, or
                            ``(ii) a surviving spouse (as defined in 
                        section 2(a)),
                    ``(B) $4,400 in the case of a head of household (as 
                defined in section 2(b)), or
                    ``(C) $3,000 in any other case.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 63(c)(4) of such Code, as amended by section 
        301 of such Act, is amended by striking ``(2)(D)'' each place 
        it occurs and inserting ``(2)(C)''.
            (2) Section 63(c) of such Code, as so amended, is amended 
        by striking paragraph (7).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.

SEC. 3. ACCELERATION OF 15-PERCENT INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX RATE BRACKET 
              EXPANSION FOR MARRIED TAXPAYERS FILING JOINT RETURNS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (8) of section 1(f) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to phaseout of marriage penalty in 15-
percent bracket), as amended by section 302 of the Economic Growth and 
Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and section 102 of the Jobs and 
Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, is amended to read as 
follows:
            ``(8) Elimination of marriage penalty in 15-percent 
        bracket.--With respect to taxable years beginning after 
        December 31, 2002, in prescribing the tables under paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) the maximum taxable income in the 15 percent 
                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 200 
                percent of the maximum taxable income in the 15-percent 
                rate bracket in the table contained in subsection (c) 
                (after any other adjustment under this subsection), and
                    ``(B) the comparable taxable income amounts in the 
                table contained in subsection (d) shall be \1/2\ of the 
                amounts determined under subparagraph (A).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The heading for subsection (f) of 
section 1 of such Code, as so amended, is amended by striking 
``Phaseout'' and inserting ``Elimination''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2002.

SEC. 4. PROVISIONS MADE PERMANENT.

    Title IX of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act 
of 2001 shall not apply to--
            (1) the amendments made by sections 301 and 302 of such 
        Act, and
            (2) the amendments made by this Act.
                                 <all>