[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3811 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3811

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to waive the employee 
 portion of Social Security taxes imposed on individuals who have been 
           diagnosed as having cancer or a terminal disease.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 11, 2004

   Mr. Paul 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 waive the employee 
 portion of Social Security taxes imposed on individuals who have been 
           diagnosed as having cancer or a terminal disease.

    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 ``Cancer and Terminal Illness Patient 
Health Care Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. WAIVER OF EMPLOYEE PORTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES ON 
              INDIVIDUALS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING CANCER OR A TERMINAL 
              DISEASE.

    (a) Employees.--Section 3101 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to tax on employees) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subsection:
    ``(d) Exception for Employees With Cancer or Terminal Disease.--No 
tax shall be imposed by this section on wages paid to an individual for 
any period for whom a certification by a physician (as defined in 
section 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(r)(1)) 
is in effect stating that--
            ``(1) the individual has a terminal disease, or
            ``(2) the individual has cancer and whether or not such 
        cancer is in remission.
The preceding sentence shall apply in the case of a certification that 
an individual's cancer is in remission only during the period that the 
individual certifies to the employer that the individual is incurring 
significant costs (not reimbursed by insurance or otherwise) by reason 
of such cancer.''
    (b) Comparable Treatment for Self-Employed Individuals.--Section 
1401 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(d) Reduction in Tax for Self-Employed Individuals With Cancer or 
Terminal Disease.--
            ``(1) In general.--Each of the rates of tax under 
        subsections (a) and (b) shall be reduced by 50 percent in the 
        case of an individual for whom a certification by a physician 
        (as defined in section 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1395x(r)(1)) is in effect throughout the taxable 
        year stating that--
                    ``(A) the individual has a terminal disease, or
                    ``(B) the individual has cancer and whether or not 
                such cancer is in remission.
        The preceding sentence shall apply in the case of a 
        certification that an individual's cancer is in remission only 
        during the period that the individual is incurring significant 
        costs (not reimbursed by insurance or otherwise) by reason of 
        such cancer.
            ``(2) Special rule where certificate in effect for only 
        portion of year.--If the certification referred to in paragraph 
        (1) is in effect for only a portion of the taxable year, 
        paragraph (1) shall be applied by substituting for `50 percent' 
        the number of percentage points which bears the same ratio to 
        50 as such portion bears to the entire taxable year.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to periods after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) No Impact on Social Security Trust Fund Deposits or Benefits.--
Nothing in the amendments made by this section shall be construed to 
affect the amount of deposits into any trust fund under the Social 
Security Act or the amount of benefits payable under such Act.
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