[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3516
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide emergency family
relief in response to the outbreak of the NCOV-19.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 18, 2020
Mr. Hawley 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 provide emergency family
relief in response to the outbreak of the NCOV-19.
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 ``Emergency Family Relief Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NCOV-19 EMERGENCY FAMILY RELIEF.
(a) Establishment of NCOV-19 Emergency Family Relief Credit.--
Subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of subtitle A of such
Code is amended by inserting the following new section:
``SEC. 36D. NCOV-19 EMERGENCY FAMILY RELIEF.
``(a) In General.--As soon as practicable and not later than two
weeks after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary
shall establish a program for making emergency family relief credit
payments, including electronic payments, on a monthly basis, without
respect to tax liability, for each citizen residing with a dependent
qualifying child equal to the sum of--
``(1) with respect to a two-person household, $1,288 per
full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for
each partial emergency family relief period.
``(2) with respect to a three-person household, $1,446 per
full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for
each partial emergency family relief period.
``(3) with respect to a four-person household, $1,786 per
full emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for
each partial emergency family relief period.
``(4) with respect to a household larger than a four-person
household, an amount equaling $1,786, plus $420 per each
additional household member beyond the fourth, per full
emergency family relief period and a pro rata amount for each
partial emergency family relief period
``(b) Pro Rata Amounts.--The pro rata amount for each partial
emergency family relief period shall be calculated by multiplying the
monthly amount for a full emergency family relief period that would be
paid to the beneficiary based on household size for such a period by
the percentage calculated by dividing the number of days of the partial
emergency family relief period by the number of days of the month
during which the majority of the emergency family relief period occurs,
or, if the emergency family relief period is an even number of days, by
the number of days of the shorter month during which it falls.
``(c) Limitations.--
``(1) Credit phase out.--The amount of the credit allowable
under subsection (a) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by
$50 for each $1,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the
beneficiary's modified adjusted gross income exceeds the
threshold amount. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the
term `modified adjusted gross income' means adjusted gross
income based on the most recent information submitted by the
beneficiary in a form deemed appropriate for the application
process by the Secretary of the Treasury and increased by any
amount excluded from gross income under section 911, 931, or
933.
``(2) Threshold amount.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of paragraph (1),
the term `threshold amount' means--
``(i) $100,000 in the case of a joint
return; and
``(ii) $50,000 in the case of an individual
return.
``(3) Household limit.--Emergency family relief credit
payments may only be claimed by one member of a household, and
only one credit may be claimed per residence.
``(A) Marital status.--For purposes of this
paragraph, marital status shall be determined under
section 7703.
``(d) Qualifying Child.--
``(1) In general.--In this section, the term `qualifying
child' means a qualifying child of the filer (as defined in
section 152(c)) who has not attained 18 years of age.
``(2) Exception for certain non-citizens.--The term
`qualifying child' shall not include any individual who would
not be a dependent if subparagraph (A) of section 152(b)(3)
were applied without regard to all that follows `resident of
the United States'.
``(e) Application and Verification.--
``(1) Application.--The Secretary of Treasury shall
establish an expedited process by which citizens may apply for
and provide all necessary information to maintain access to
installments of the emergency family relief credit outside the
annual tax return process utilizing--
``(A) information from the beneficiary's most
recent tax return if the beneficiary has filed
previously and such return is for 2018 or 2019, and
``(B) any additional or alternative information
submissions deemed necessary by the Secretary of the
Treasury to facilitate application, verification of
eligibility for, and prompt delivery of the emergency
family relief credit.
``(2) Verification.--No credit shall be allowed under this
section to a taxpayer on the basis of his or her residing with
other household members unless the taxpayer has provided the
name and taxpayer identification number of each such household
member in a manner deemed appropriate for the application
process by the Secretary of the Treasury.
``(f) Relief Periods.--
``(1) Emergency family relief period.--Beginning on the
date of enactment, an emergency family relief period shall
encompass any monthlong period prior to January 1, 2021--
``(A) during which time an elementary or secondary
school as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801) or place of care attended by a dependent
child has been closed, or a child care provider of such
child who receives compensation for providing child
care services on a regular basis is unavailable, due to
an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a
Federal, state, or local authority, or
``(B) during which time the filer or the filer's
spouse has experienced economic hardship including job
loss, lost wages, or lost self-employment income, due
to an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a
Federal, state, or local authority.
``(2) Partial emergency family relief period.--Beginning on
the date of enactment, a partial emergency family relief period
shall encompass any period shorter than one month prior to
January 1, 2021--
``(A) during which time an elementary or secondary
school as such terms are defined in section 8101 of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801) or place of care attended by a dependent
child has been closed, or a child care provider of such
child who receives compensation for providing child
care services on a regular basis is unavailable, due to
an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a
Federal, state, or local authority, or
``(B) during which time the filer or the filer's
spouse has experienced economic hardship including job
loss, lost wages, or lost self-employment income, due
to an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a
Federal, state, or local authority.
``(3) Overlap.--For the purpose of calculating a filer's
emergency family relief credits, no emergency family relief
period or partial emergency family relief period may overlap
with another emergency family relief period or partial
emergency family relief period, nor shall multiple partial
emergency family relief periods be counted both immediately
prior to and immediately subsequent to a full emergency family
relief period.
``(g) Treatment of Emergency Family Relief Credits for Income Tax
Purposes.--
``(1) Payments not to be taxed .--Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no amount received as an emergency family
relief credit shall be treated as income for the purpose of
calculating Federal, state, or local tax liability.''.
<all>
Emergency Family Relief Act of 2020
#3516 | S Congress #116
Policy Area: Taxation
Last Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (3/18/2020)
Bill Text Source: Congress.gov
Summary and Impacts
Original Text