[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1253 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1253

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a minimum credit 
of $200 per month for stay-at-home parents, to allow the dependent care 
credit to be taken against the minimum tax, and to allow a carryforward 
                  of any unused dependent care credit.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 12, 2003

 Ms. Murkowski 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 provide a minimum credit 
of $200 per month for stay-at-home parents, to allow the dependent care 
credit to be taken against the minimum tax, and to allow a carryforward 
                  of any unused dependent care credit.

    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 ``Stay-At-Home Parents' Tax Credit Act 
of 2003''.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM CREDIT ALLOWED FOR STAY-AT-HOME PARENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 21(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
(relating to special rules) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
            ``(11) Minimum credit allowed for stay-at-home parents.--
        Notwithstanding subsection (d), in the case of any taxpayer 
        with 1 or more qualifying individuals described in subsection 
        (b)(1)(A) under the age of 6 at any time during the taxable 
        year, such taxpayer shall be deemed to have employment-related 
        expenses with respect to such qualifying individuals in an 
        amount equal to the greater of--
                    ``(A) the amount of employment-related expenses 
                incurred for such qualifying individuals for the 
                taxable year (determined under this section without 
                regard to this paragraph), or
                    ``(B) $200 for each month in such taxable year 
                during which such qualifying individual is under the 
                age of 6.''.
    (b) Credit Allowed Against Minimum Tax.--
            (1) In general.--Section 21(c) of the Internal Revenue Code 
        of 1986 is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``The amount of'' and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(1) Dollar limit.--The amount of'', and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
            ``(2) Limitation based on amount of tax.--The credit 
        allowed under subsection (a) for any taxable year shall not 
        exceed the excess of--
                    ``(A) the sum of the regular tax liability (as 
                defined in section 26(b)) plus the tax imposed by 
                section 55, over
                    ``(B) the sum of credits allowable under this 
                subpart (other than this section and sections 23, 24, 
                and 25B) and section 27 for the taxable year.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) The heading of section 21(c) of such Code is 
                amended to read ``Limitations.--''.
                    (B) Section 26(a)(1) of such Code is amended by 
                inserting ``21,'' after ``sections''.
    (c) Carryforward of Credit.--Section 21 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 (relating to expenses for household and dependent care 
services necessary for gainful employment) is amended by redesignating 
subsection (f) as subsection (g) and by inserting after subsection (e) 
the following new subsection:
    ``(f) Carryforward of Unused Credit.--If the credit allowable under 
subsection (a) for any taxable year exceeds the limitation imposed by 
subsection (c)(4) for such taxable year, such excess shall be carried 
to the succeeding taxable year and added to the credit allowable under 
subsection (a) for such taxable year.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2003.
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