Marriage Tax Elimination Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a husband and wife to file a combined income tax return on which each spouse is taxed separately at the unmarried return rate.
[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2456 Introduced in House (IH)]
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2456
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that married
couples may file a combined return under which each spouse is taxed
using the rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 11, 1997
Mr. Weller (for himself, Mr. McIntosh, Mrs. Cubin, Mrs. Kelly, Mr.
Herger, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Bachus, Mr. Baker, Mr. Barr of Georgia, Mr.
Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Barton of Texas, Mr. Bass, Mr. Bereuter, Mr.
Bilbray, Mr. Bliley, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Boehlert, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Bonilla,
Mr. Bono, Mr. Brady, Mr. Bryant, Mr. Bunning of Kentucky, Mr. Burr of
North Carolina, Mr. Buyer, Mr. Callahan, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Canady of
Florida, Mr. Chambliss, Mrs. Chenoweth, Mr. Christensen, Mr. Coburn,
Mr. Collins, Mr. Combest, Mr. Condit, Mr. Cook, Mr. Cooksey, Mr. Crapo,
Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Davis of Virginia, Mr. Deal of Georgia, Mr. Diaz-
Balart, Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Dreier, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Ehrlich,
Mrs. Emerson, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Ewing, Mr.
Foley, Mr. Forbes, Mrs. Fowler, Mr. Fox of Pennsylvania, Mr. Gallegly,
Mr. Gekas, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Gilchrest, Mr. Gilman, Mr. Goss, Mr.
Graham, Ms. Granger, Mr. Gutknecht, Mr. Hastert, Mr. Hastings of
Washington, Mr. Hayworth, Mr. Hill, Mr. Hilleary, Mr. Hoekstra, Mr.
Hostettler, Mr. Hulshof, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Hyde, Mr.
Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Istook, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kim,
Mr. King of New York, Mr. Kingston, Mr. Largent, Mr. Latham, Mr.
LaTourette, Mr. Lewis of California, Mr. Lewis of Kentucky, Mr.
Livingston, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. McCollum, Mr. McCrery, Mr. McHugh, Mr.
McInnis, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Metcalf, Mr. Miller of Florida, Mrs. Myrick,
Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Neumann, Mr. Ney, Mrs. Northup, Mr. Norwood, Mr.
Nussle, Mr. Oxley, Mr. Packard, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Parker, Mr. Paul, Mr.
Paxon, Mr. Peterson of Minnesota, Mr. Peterson of Pennsylvania, Mr.
Pickering, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Pombo, Mr. Portman, Ms. Pryce of Ohio, Mr.
Riggs, Mr. Riley, Mr. Rogan, Mr. Rogers, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Saxton, Mr.
Scarborough, Mr. Bob Schaffer, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Shadegg, Mr. Smith of
Texas, Mrs. Linda Smith of Washington, Mr. Smith of Michigan, Mr.
Solomon, Mr. Souder, Mr. Spence, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Stump, Mr. Sununu,
Mr. Talent, Mr. Tauzin, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tiahrt, Mr. Upton, Mr. Walsh,
Mr. Wamp, Mr. Watkins, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Weldon of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Weldon of Florida, Mr. White, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wolf,
Mr. Young of Florida, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Armey, Mr. Burton of
Indiana, Mr. Chabot, Mr. Goodling, Mr. Hansen, Mr. Linder, Mr. Redmond,
Mr. Royce, Mr. Ryun, Mr. Shimkus, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Mica,
Mrs. Roukema, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. Dunn of Washington, Mr. Horn, Mr.
Kolbe, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Moran of Kansas, and Mr. Thornberry) 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 provide that married
couples may file a combined return under which each spouse is taxed
using the rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
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 ``Marriage Tax Elimination Act''.
SEC. 2. COMBINED RETURN TO WHICH UNMARRIED RATES APPLY.
(a) In General.--Subpart B of part II of subchapter A of chapter 61
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to income tax returns)
is amended by inserting after section 6013 the following new section:
``SEC. 6013A. COMBINED RETURN WITH SEPARATE RATES.
``(a) General Rule.--A husband and wife may make a combined return
of income taxes under subtitle A under which--
``(1) a separate taxable income is determined for each
spouse by applying the rules provided in this section, and
``(2) the tax imposed by section 1 is the aggregate amount
resulting from applying the separate rates set forth in section
1(c) to each such taxable income.
``(b) Treatment of Income.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) earned income (within the meaning of section 911(d)),
and any income received as a pension or annuity which arises
from an employer-employee relationship, shall be treated as the
income of the spouse who rendered the services, and
``(2) income from property shall be divided between the
spouses in accordance with their respective ownership rights in
such property.
``(c) Treatment of Deductions.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the
deductions allowed by section 62(a) shall be allowed to the
spouse treated as having the income to which such deductions
relate,
``(2) the deduction for retirement savings described in
paragraph (7) of section 62(a) shall be allowed to the spouse
for whose benefit the savings are maintained,
``(3) the deduction for alimony described in paragraph (10)
of section 62(a) shall be allowed to the spouse who has the
liability to pay the alimony,
``(4) the deduction referred to in paragraph (16) of
section 62(a) (relating to contributions to medical savings
accounts) shall be allowed to the spouse with respect to whose
employment or self-employment such account relates,
``(5) the deductions allowable by section 151 (relating to
personal exemptions) shall be determined by requiring each
spouse to claim 1 personal exemption,
``(6) section 63 shall be applied as if such spouses were
not married, and
``(7) each spouse's share of all other deductions
(including the deduction for personal exemptions under section
151(c)) shall be determined by multiplying the aggregate amount
thereof by the fraction--
``(A) the numerator of which is such spouse's
adjusted gross income, and
``(B) the denominator of which is the combined
adjusted gross incomes of the 2 spouses.
Any fraction determined under paragraph (7) shall be rounded to the
nearest percentage point.
``(d) Treatment of Credits.--Credits shall be determined (and
applied against the joint liability of the couple for tax) as if the
spouses had filed a joint return.
``(e) Treatment as Joint Return.--Except as otherwise provided in
this section or in the regulations prescribed hereunder, for purposes
of this title (other than sections 1 and 63(c)) a combined return under
this section shall be treated as a joint return.
``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations
as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out this section.''.
(b) Unmarried Rate Made Applicable.--So much of subsection (c) of
section 1 of such Code as precedes the table is amended to read as
follows:
``(c) Separate or Unmarried Return Rate.--There is hereby imposed
on the taxable income of every individual (other than a married
individual (as defined in section 7703) filing a joint return or a
separate return, a surviving spouse as defined in section 2(a), or a
head of household as defined in section 2(b)) a tax determined in
accordance with the following table:''.
(c) Basic Standard Deduction for Unmarried Individuals Made
Applicable.--Subparagraph (C) of section 63(c)(2) of such Code is
amended to read as follows:
``(C) $3,000 in the case of an individual who is
not--
``(i) a married individual filing a joint
return or a separate return,
``(ii) a surviving spouse, or
``(iii) a head of household, or''.
(d) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart B of
part II of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such Code is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 6013 the following:
``Sec. 6013A. Combined return with
separate rates.''
(e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of
this Act.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H7533)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H8269)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H504-505)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H697-698)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H1381-1382)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H1705)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H1831-1832)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H2059-2060)
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H4571-4573)
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