Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3833 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify that all provisions shall apply to legally married same-sex couples in the same manner as other married couples, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 11, 2021 Mr. LEVIN of Michigan (for himself, Ms. CHU, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BASS, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BUSH, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. CASE, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illi- nois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GARCI´A of Illi- nois, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. KILMER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. NEW- MAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WIL- LIAMS of Georgia, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) 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 clarify that all provisions shall apply to legally married same- sex couples in the same manner as other married couples, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3833 IH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equal Dignity for Mar- 4 ried Taxpayers Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. RULES RELATING TO ALL LEGALLY MARRIED COU- 6 PLES. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Internal Revenue Code of 8 1986 is amended— 9 (1) in section 21(d)(2)— 10 (A) by striking ‘‘HIMSELF’’ in the heading 11 and inserting ‘‘SELF’’; and 12 (B) by striking ‘‘any husband and wife’’ 13 and inserting ‘‘any married couple’’; 14 (2) in section 22(e)(1)— 15 (A) by striking ‘‘husband and wife who 16 live’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple who lives’’; 17 and 18 (B) by striking ‘‘the taxpayer and his 19 spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘the taxpayer and the 20 spouse of the taxpayer’’; 21 (3) in section 38(c)(6)(A), by striking ‘‘husband 22 or wife who files’’ and inserting ‘‘married individual 23 who files’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3833 IH (4) in section 42(j)(5)(C), by striking clause (i) 1 and inserting the following new clause: 2 ‘‘(i) MARRIED COUPLE TREATED AS 1 3 PARTNER.—For purposes of subparagraph 4 (B), individuals married to one another 5 (and their estates) shall be treated as 1 6 partner.’’; 7 (5) in section 62(b)(3)— 8 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 9 (i) by striking ‘‘husband and wife who 10 lived apart’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple 11 who lived apart’’; and 12 (ii) by striking ‘‘the taxpayer and his 13 spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘the taxpayer and 14 the spouse of the taxpayer’’; and 15 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking ‘‘hus- 16 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 17 (6) in section 121— 18 (A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘hus- 19 band and wife who make’’ and inserting ‘‘mar- 20 ried couple who makes’’; and 21 (B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘hus- 22 band and wife make’’ and inserting ‘‘married 23 couple makes’’; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3833 IH (7) in section 165(h)(4)(B), by striking ‘‘hus- 1 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 2 (8) in section 179(b)(4), by striking ‘‘a husband 3 and wife filing’’ and inserting ‘‘individuals married 4 to one another who file’’; 5 (9) in section 213(d)(8), by striking ‘‘status as 6 husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘marital status’’; 7 (10) in section 219(g)(4), in the matter pre- 8 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘A husband 9 and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘Married individuals’’; 10 (11) in section 274(b)(2)(B), by striking ‘‘hus- 11 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 12 (12) in section 643(f), by striking ‘‘husband 13 and wife’’ in the second sentence and inserting 14 ‘‘married couple’’; 15 (13) in section 761(f)— 16 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘husband 17 and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; and 18 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘hus- 19 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 20 (14) in section 911— 21 (A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking sub- 22 paragraph (C) and inserting the following new 23 subparagraph: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3833 IH ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF COMMUNITY IN- 1 COME.—In applying subparagraph (A) with re- 2 spect to amounts received from services per- 3 formed by a married individual which are com- 4 munity income under community property laws 5 applicable to such income, the aggregate 6 amount which may be excludable from the gross 7 income of such individual and such individual’s 8 spouse under subsection (a)(1) for any taxable 9 year shall equal the amount which would be so 10 excludable if such amounts did not constitute 11 community income.’’; and 12 (B) in subsection (d)(9)(A), by striking 13 ‘‘where a husband and wife each have’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘where both spouses have’’; 15 (15) in section 1244(b)(2), by striking ‘‘a hus- 16 band and wife filing’’; 17 (16) in section 1272(a)(2)(D), by striking 18 clause (iii) and inserting the following new clause: 19 ‘‘(iii) TREATMENT OF A MARRIED 20 COUPLE.—For purposes of this subpara- 21 graph, a married couple shall be treated as 22 1 person. The preceding sentence shall not 23 apply where the spouses lived apart at all 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3833 IH times during the taxable year in which the 1 loan is made.’’; 2 (17) in section 1313(c)(1), by striking ‘‘hus- 3 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouses’’; 4 (18) in section 1361(c)(1)(A)(i), by striking ‘‘a 5 husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘a married cou- 6 ple’’; 7 (19) in section 2040(b), by striking ‘‘CERTAIN 8 JOINT INTERESTS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE’’ in the 9 heading and inserting ‘‘CERTAIN JOINT INTERESTS 10 OF MARRIED COUPLE’’; 11 (20) in section 2513— 12 (A) by striking ‘‘GIFT BY HUSBAND OR 13 WIFE TO THIRD PARTY’’ in the heading and 14 inserting ‘‘GIFT BY SPOUSE TO THIRD 15 PARTY’’; and 16 (B) by striking paragraph (1) of sub- 17 section (a) and inserting the following new 18 paragraph: 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A gift made by one indi- 20 vidual to any person other than such individual’s 21 spouse shall, for the purposes of this chapter, be 22 considered as made one-half by the individual and 23 one-half by such individual’s spouse, but only if at 24 the time of the gift each spouse is a citizen or resi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3833 IH dent of the United States. This paragraph shall not 1 apply with respect to a gift by an individual of an 2 interest in property if such individual creates in the 3 individual’s spouse a general power of appointment, 4 as defined in section 2514(c), over such interest. For 5 purposes of this section, an individual shall be con- 6 sidered as the spouse of another only if the indi- 7 vidual is married to the individual’s spouse at the 8 time of the gift and does not remarry during the re- 9 mainder of the calendar year.’’; 10 (21) in section 2516— 11 (A) by striking ‘‘Where a husband and 12 wife enter’’ and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Where a married couple enters’’; 14 and 15 (B) by adding at the end the following new 16 subsection: 17 ‘‘(b) SPOUSE.—For purposes of this section, if the 18 spouses referred to are divorced, wherever appropriate to 19 the meaning of this section, the term ‘spouse’ shall read 20 ‘former spouse’.’’; 21 (22) in section 5733(d)(2), by striking ‘‘hus- 22 band or wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married individual’’; 23 (23) in section 6013— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3833 IH (A) by striking ‘‘JOINT RETURNS OF IN- 1 COME TAX BY HUSBAND AND WIFE’’ in the 2 heading and inserting ‘‘JOINT RETURNS OF 3 INCOME TAX BY A MARRIED COUPLE’’; 4 (B) in subsection (a), in the matter pre- 5 ceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘husband and 6 wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 7 (C) in subsection (a)(1), by striking ‘‘ei- 8 ther the husband or wife’’ and inserting ‘‘either 9 spouse’’; 10 (D) in subsection (a)(2)— 11 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 12 ‘‘husband and wife’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘spouses’’; and 14 (ii) in the second sentence, by striking 15 ‘‘his taxable year’’ and inserting ‘‘such 16 spouse’s taxable year’’; 17 (E) in subsection (a)(3)— 18 (i) in the first sentence, by striking 19 ‘‘his executor or administrator’’ and insert- 20 ing ‘‘the decedent’s executor or adminis- 21 trator’’; 22 (ii) in the first sentence, by striking 23 ‘‘with respect to both himself and the dece- 24 dent’’ and inserting ‘‘with respect to both 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3833 IH the surviving spouse and the decedent’’; 1 and 2 (iii) in the second sentence, by strik- 3 ing ‘‘constitute his separate return’’ and 4 inserting ‘‘constitute the survivor’s sepa- 5 rate return’’; 6 (F) in subsection (b), by striking para- 7 graph (1) and inserting the following new para- 8 graph: 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 10 graph (2), if an individual has filed a separate re- 11 turn for a taxable year for which a joint return 12 could have been made by the individual and the indi- 13 vidual’s spouse under subsection (a) and the time 14 prescribed by law for filing the return for such tax- 15 able year has expired, such individual and such 16 spouse may nevertheless make a joint return for 17 such taxable year. A joint return filed under this 18 subsection shall constitute the return of the indi- 19 vidual and the individual’s spouse for such taxable 20 year, and all payments, credits, refunds, or other re- 21 payments made or allowed with respect to the sepa- 22 rate return of either spouse for such taxable year 23 shall be taken into account in determining the extent 24 to which the tax based upon the joint return has 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3833 IH been paid. If a joint return is made under this sub- 1 section, any election (other than the election to file 2 a separate return) made by either spouse in a sepa- 3 rate return for such taxable year with respect to the 4 treatment of any income, deduction, or credit of 5 such spouse shall not be changed in the making of 6 the joint return where such election would have been 7 irrevocable if the joint return had not been made. If 8 a joint return is made under this subsection after 9 the death of either spouse, such return with respect 10 to the decedent can be made only by the decedent’s 11 executor or administrator.’’; 12 (G) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘husband 13 and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouses’’; 14 (H) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘sta- 15 tus as husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘the 16 marital status with respect to each other’’; 17 (I) in subsection (d)(2), by striking ‘‘his 18 spouse’’ and inserting ‘‘the spouse of the indi- 19 vidual’’; 20 (J) in subsection (f)(2)(B), by striking 21 ‘‘such individual, his spouse, and his estate 22 shall be determined as if he were alive’’ and in- 23 serting ‘‘such individual, the individual’s 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3833 IH spouse, and the individual’s estate shall be de- 1 termined as if the individual were alive’’; and 2 (K) in subsection (f)(3)— 3 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 4 ‘‘for which he is entitled’’ and inserting 5 ‘‘for which such member is entitled’’; and 6 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 7 ‘‘for which he is entitled’’ and inserting 8 ‘‘for which such employee is entitled’’; 9 (24) in section 6014(b), by striking ‘‘husband 10 and wife’’ in the second sentence and inserting ‘‘a 11 married couple’’; 12 (25) in section 6017, by striking ‘‘husband and 13 wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 14 (26) in section 6096(a), by striking ‘‘of hus- 15 band and wife having’’ and inserting ‘‘reporting’’; 16 (27) in section 6166(b)(2), by striking subpara- 17 graph (B) and inserting the following new subpara- 18 graph: 19 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN INTERESTS HELD BY MAR- 20 RIED COUPLE.—Stock or a partnership interest 21 which— 22 ‘‘(i) is community property of a mar- 23 ried couple (or the income from which is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:27 Jun 29, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3833.IH H3833 lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3833 IH community income) under the applicable 1 community property law of a State, or 2 ‘‘(ii) is held by a married couple as 3 joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or 4 tenants in common, 5 shall be treated as owned by 1 shareholder or 6 1 partner, as the case may be.’’; 7 (28) in section 6212(b)(2)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘return filed by husband 9 and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘return’’; and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘his last known address’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘the last known address of such 12 spouse’’; 13 (29) in section 7428(c)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘hus- 14 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 15 (30) in section 7701(a)— 16 (A) by striking paragraph (17); and 17 (B) in paragraph (38), by striking ‘‘hus- 18 band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 19 and 20 (31) in section 7872(f), by striking paragraph 21 (7) and inserting the following new paragraph: 22 ‘‘(7) MARRIED COUPLE TREATED AS 1 PER- 23 SON.—A married couple shall be treated as 1 per- 24 son.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:2 [Text truncated for display. 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