[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2705 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2705

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a refundable credit 
                        for advance directives.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2009

Mr. McDermott 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 allow a refundable credit 
                        for advance directives.

    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 ``Advance Directive Incentive Act''.

SEC. 2. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR ADVANCE DIRECTIVES.

    (a) In General.--Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to refundable credits) 
is amended by inserting after section 36A the following new section:

``SEC. 36B. ADVANCE DIRECTIVES.

    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of an individual, there 
shall be allowed to the taxpayer as a credit against the tax imposed by 
this subtitle for the taxable year an amount equal to 30 percent of 
qualified expenses of the taxpayer.
    ``(b) Limitation.--
            ``(1) In general.--The aggregate amount of expenses which 
        may be taken into account under subsection (a) for the taxable 
        year shall not exceed $500, reduced (but not below zero) by the 
        amount of expenses taken into account under this section for 
        all prior taxable years.
            ``(2) Special rule.--For purposes of paragraph (1), in the 
        case of a joint return for any prior taxable year, amounts 
        taken into account under this section shall be treated as 
        expenses of both the husband and the wife.
    ``(c) Qualified Expenses.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) Qualified expenses.--The term `qualified expenses' 
        means legal fees incurred for the purpose of establishing an 
        advance directive.
            ``(2) Advance directive.--The term `advance directive' 
        means, with respect to an individual, a written instruction, 
        such as a living will or durable power of attorney for health 
        care or establishment of a health care proxy, recognized under 
        State law (whether statutory or as recognized by the courts of 
        the State) and relating to the provision of medical care in the 
        case the individual is incapacitated.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Paragraph (2) of section 1324(b) of title 31, United 
        States Code, is amended by inserting ``36B,'' after ``section 
        36A,''.
            (2) The table of sections for subpart C of part IV of 
        subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by inserting 
        after the item relating to section 36A the following new item:

``Sec. 36B. Advance directives.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009.
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