Working Family Tax Relief Act of 2004

Working Family Tax Relief Act of 2004 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the scheduled reductions in: (1) the amount of the child tax credit for taxable years 2005 through 2009 (maintains the current $1,000 credit amount for all taxable years after 2004); (2) the basic standard deduction for married taxpayers filing joint returns and surviving spouses for taxable years 2005 through 2008; and (3) the increased upper limit threshold amounts for qualifying married individuals filing joint returns for the 15 and ten percent income tax brackets. Allows an inflation adjustment to such threshold amounts for taxable years beginning after 2003 based on the difference from the Consumer Price Index for 2002.

Exempts from the general terminating date (December 31, 2010) under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 provisions relating to: (1) the increased upper limit amounts for the ten and 15 percent tax bracket for married taxpayers filing joint returns and surviving spouses; (2) the increase in the child tax credit; (3) the increased standard deduction for married taxpayers filing joint returns; and (4) the earned income tax credit.

Extends the increased amounts of the exemption from the alternative minimum tax for individual taxpayers through 2005.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2376 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2376

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the scheduled 
  reductions in the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and 10-
             percent rate bracket, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 4, 2004

 Mr. Bunning (for himself, Mr. Miller, Mr. Frist, Mr. Graham of South 
Carolina, and Mrs. Hutchison) 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 repeal the scheduled 
  reductions in the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, and 10-
             percent rate bracket, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Working Family Tax Relief Act of 
2004''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF SCHEDULED REDUCTIONS IN CHILD TAX CREDIT, MARRIAGE 
              PENALTY RELIEF, AND 10-PERCENT RATE BRACKET.

    (a) Child Tax Credit.--Subsection (a) of section 24 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to child tax credit) is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--There shall be allowed as a credit 
against the tax imposed by this chapter for the taxable year with 
respect to each qualifying child of the taxpayer an amount equal to 
$1,000.''.
    (b) Marriage Penalty Relief in Standard Deduction.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 63(c) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to basic standard 
        deduction) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(2) Basic standard deduction.--For purposes of paragraph 
        (1), the basic standard deduction is--
                    ``(A) 200 percent of the dollar amount in effect 
                under subparagraph (C) for the taxable year in the case 
                of--
                            ``(i) a joint return, or
                            ``(ii) a surviving spouse (as defined in 
                        section 2(a)),
                    ``(B) $4,400 in the case of a head of household (as 
                defined in section 2(b)), or
                    ``(C) $3,000 in any other case.''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Section 63(c)(4) of such Code is amended by 
                striking ``(2)(D)'' each place it occurs and inserting 
                ``(2)(C)''.
                    (B) Section 63(c) of such Code is amended by 
                striking paragraph (7).
    (c) Marriage Penalty Relief in 15-Percent Income Tax Bracket.--
Paragraph (8) of section 1(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended to read as follows:
            ``(8) Elimination of marriage penalty in 15-percent 
        bracket.--With respect to taxable years beginning after 
        December 31, 2004, in prescribing the tables under paragraph 
        (1)--
                    ``(A) the maximum taxable income in the 15-percent 
                rate bracket in the table contained in subsection (a) 
                (and the minimum taxable income in the next higher 
                taxable income bracket in such table) shall be 200 
                percent of the maximum taxable income in the 15-percent 
                rate bracket in the table contained in subsection (c) 
                (after any other adjustment under this subsection), and
                    ``(B) the comparable taxable income amounts in the 
                table contained in subsection (d) shall be \1/2\ of the 
                amounts determined under subparagraph (A).''.
    (d) 10-Percent Rate Bracket.--
            (1) In general.--Clause (i) of section 1(i)(1)(B) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``($12,000 
        in the case of taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004, 
        and before January 1, 2008)''.
            (2) Inflation adjustment.--Subparagraph (C) of section 
        1(i)(1) of such Code is amended to read as follows:
                    ``(C) Inflation adjustment.--In prescribing the 
                tables under subsection (f) which apply with respect to 
                taxable years beginning in calendar years after 2003--
                            ``(i) the cost-of-living adjustment shall 
                        be determined under subsection (f)(3) by 
                        substituting `2002' for `1992' in subparagraph 
                        (B) thereof, and
                            ``(ii) the adjustments under clause (i) 
                        shall not apply to the amount referred to in 
                        subparagraph (B)(iii).
                If any amount after adjustment under the preceding 
                sentence is not a multiple of $50, such amount shall be 
                rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50.''.
    (e) Provisions Made Permanent.--Title IX of the Economic Growth and 
Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (relating to sunset of provisions 
of such Act) shall not apply to--
            (1) section 1(i)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as 
        added by subsection (a) of section 101 of such Act,
            (2) paragraphs (1) and (7) of section 101(c) of such Act,
            (3) section 201(a) of such Act, and
            (4) title III of such Act.
    (f) Effective Dates.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.

SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF MINIMUM TAX RELIEF TO INDIVIDUALS.

    (a) In General.--Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 55(d)(1) of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to exemption amount for 
taxpayers other than corporations) are each amended by striking ``2003 
and 2004'' and inserting ``2003, 2004, and 2005''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.
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