[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5886 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5886

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve the dependent 
  care credit by repealing the phasedown of the credit percentage and 
           making permanent the increased dollar limitations.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 1, 2012

Mr. Israel (for himself and Mr. Ryan of Ohio) 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 improve the dependent 
  care credit by repealing the phasedown of the credit percentage and 
           making permanent the increased dollar limitations.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Middle Class 
Dependent Care Fairness Act of 2012''.
    (b) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) During the past few decades we have seen a greater need 
        for childcare which means a greater cost for middle-class 
        families. These child care costs can be a major burden for 
        modern families.
            (2) In 2011, 44 percent of all American families included 
        children under the age of 18. Fifty-eight and one-half percent 
        of married couples with children both worked in 2011. The labor 
        force participation rate of mothers with children under the age 
        of 6 was 63.9 percent in 2011 compared with 39 percent in 1975.
            (3) Nationwide, on any given day, 4.6 million children 
        under the age of 5 are in child care outside the home.
            (4) On average, families with children under the age of 5 
        spent $171 a week on child care in 2010. That's $8,892 a year.

SEC. 2. DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Repeal of Phasedown of Credit Percentage.--Subsection (a) of 
section 21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--In the case of an individual for which 
there are 1 or more qualifying individuals (as defined in subsection 
(b)(1)) with respect to such individual, there shall be allowed as a 
credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year an 
amount equal to 35 percent of the employment-related expenses (as 
defined in subsection (b)(2)) paid by such individual during the 
taxable year.''.
    (b) Increased Dollar Limitations Made Permanent.--Title IX of the 
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 shall not 
apply to the amendments made by section 204 of such Act.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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