Empowering Families at Home and at Work Act

Empowering Families at Home and at Work Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a married taxpayer who files a joint tax return a tax deduction for 20% of the first $60,000 of the wages and self-employment income of the lesser earning spouse. Disallows such deduction for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $110,000.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5257 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5257

   To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a deduction 
       relating to the compensation of the lesser earning spouse.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 30, 2014

  Mrs. McMorris Rodgers (for herself, Mrs. Capito, Mrs. Wagner, Mrs. 
Ellmers, Mrs. Bachmann, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, and 
 Mr. Fitzpatrick) 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 a deduction 
       relating to the compensation of the lesser earning spouse.

    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 ``Empowering Families at Home and at 
Work Act''.

SEC. 2. DEDUCTION FOR LESSER EARNING SPOUSE.

    (a) In General.--Part VII of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating section 224 
as section 225 and by inserting after section 223 the following new 
section:

``SEC. 224. SECOND EARNER DEDUCTION.

    ``(a) Allowance of Deduction.--In the case of a taxpayer who files 
a joint return for the taxable year, there shall be allowed as a 
deduction an amount equal to 20 percent of the total compensation of 
the lesser earning spouse.
    ``(b) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Compensation taken into account.--The amount of 
        compensation taken into account under subsection (a) for the 
        taxable year shall not exceed $60,000.
            ``(2) Limitation based on income.--The amount allowed as a 
        deduction under subsection (a) shall be zero if the adjusted 
        gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year exceeds 
        $110,000.
    ``(c) Compensation.--For purposes of this section, the term 
`compensation' means the sum of--
            ``(1) wages (as defined in section 3121), and
            ``(2) self-employment income (as defined in section 
        1402).''.
    (b) Deduction Allowed Above-the-Line.--Subsection (a) of section 62 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 
paragraph (21) the following new paragraph:
            ``(22) Second earner deduction.--The deduction allowed by 
        section 224.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part VII of 
subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by striking the item relating to section 224 and by inserting 
the following new items:

``Sec. 224. Second earner deduction.
``Sec. 225. Cross reference.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2014.
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