Building Our Opportunities to Survive and Thrive Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3590 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a refundable tax credit to increase the take-home pay of American workers and en- hance their financial stability, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 27, 2019 Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, and Mr. POCAN) 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 establish a refundable tax credit to increase the take-home pay of American workers and enhance their financial sta- bility, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Building Our Opportu- 4 nities to Survive and Thrive Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3590 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF MIDDLE CLASS TAX CREDIT. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub- 2 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 3 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol- 4 lowing new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 36A. MIDDLE CLASS TAX CREDIT. 6 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible 8 individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against 9 the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year 10 an amount equal to $3,000. 11 ‘‘(2) PHASEOUT OF CREDIT.—The amount of 12 the credit allowable to the taxpayer under paragraph 13 (1) for the taxable year shall be reduced (but not 14 below zero) by an amount which bears the same 15 ratio to the amount of the credit determined under 16 such paragraph as— 17 ‘‘(A) the amount (not less than zero) equal 18 to the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer for 19 the preceding taxable year minus $30,000, 20 bears to 21 ‘‘(B) $20,000. 22 ‘‘(3) JOINT RETURNS.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of deter- 24 mining the amount of the credit allowed under 25 this section for any taxable year, if a joint re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3590 IH turn was filed for the preceding taxable year by 1 an eligible individual and such individual’s 2 spouse, each of the dollar amounts under para- 3 graphs (1) and (2) shall be doubled. 4 ‘‘(B) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—For pur- 5 poses of determining the amount of the credit 6 allowed under this section for any taxable year, 7 if an individual was married during the pre- 8 ceding taxable year (within the meaning of sec- 9 tion 7703), this section shall apply only if a 10 joint return was filed for the preceding taxable 11 year under section 6013. 12 ‘‘(4) HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD.—For purposes of 13 determining the amount of the credit allowed under 14 this section for any taxable year, if a taxpayer filed 15 a return as a head of household for the preceding 16 taxable year, the reduction of the credit allowable to 17 the taxpayer under paragraph (1) shall be deter- 18 mined under paragraph (2) by substituting 19 ‘$80,000’ for ‘$30,000’ in subparagraph (A) thereof. 20 ‘‘(5) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 22 taxable year after 2019, each of the dollar 23 amounts under paragraphs (1), (2), and (4) 24 shall be increased by an amount equal to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3590 IH ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 1 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de- 2 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal- 3 endar year in which the taxable year be- 4 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 5 year 2018’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub- 6 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 7 ‘‘(B) ROUNDING.—If any increase deter- 8 mined under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple 9 of $50, such increase shall be rounded to the 10 nearest multiple of $50. 11 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of deter- 12 mining the credit allowed under this section for any tax- 13 able year— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible indi- 15 vidual’ means an individual— 16 ‘‘(A) who attained 18 years of age before 17 the close of the preceding taxable year, 18 ‘‘(B) whose principal place of abode was in 19 the United States for more than one-half of the 20 preceding taxable year, 21 ‘‘(C) who was not a dependent for whom a 22 deduction is allowable under section 151 to an- 23 other taxpayer for any taxable year beginning 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3590 IH in the same calendar year as the preceding tax- 1 able year, and 2 ‘‘(D) who did not claim the benefits of sec- 3 tion 911 for the preceding taxable year. 4 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY OF NON- 5 RESIDENT ALIENS.—The term ‘eligible individual’ 6 shall not include any individual who is a nonresident 7 alien individual for any portion of the preceding tax- 8 able year, unless such individual is treated for such 9 taxable year as a resident of the United States for 10 purposes of this chapter by reason of an election 11 under subsection (g) or (h) of section 6013. 12 ‘‘(3) IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REQUIRE- 13 MENT.—No credit shall be allowed under this section 14 to an eligible individual who does not include on the 15 return of tax for the taxable year— 16 ‘‘(A) such individual’s taxpayer identifica- 17 tion number, and 18 ‘‘(B) if the individual was married during 19 the preceding taxable year (within the meaning 20 of section 7703), the taxpayer identification 21 number of such individual’s spouse. 22 ‘‘(4) TREATMENT OF MILITARY PERSONNEL 23 STATIONED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.—For 24 purposes of subparagraph (A)(ii), the principal place 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3590 IH of abode of a member of the Armed Forces of the 1 United States shall be treated as in the United 2 States during any period during which such member 3 is stationed outside the United States while serving 4 on extended active duty with the Armed Forces of 5 the United States. For purposes of the preceding 6 sentence, the term ‘extended active duty’ means any 7 period of active duty pursuant to a call or order to 8 such duty for a period in excess of 90 days or for 9 an indefinite period. 10 ‘‘(c) TAXABLE YEAR MUST BE FULL TAXABLE 11 YEAR.—Except in the case of a taxable year closed by rea- 12 son of the death of the taxpayer, no credit shall be allow- 13 able under this section in the case of a taxable year cov- 14 ering a period of less than 12 months. 15 ‘‘(d) RESTRICTIONS ON TAXPAYER WHO IMPROP- 16 ERLY CLAIMED CREDIT IN PRIOR YEAR.—Rules similar 17 to subsection (k) of section 32 shall apply for purposes 18 of this section. 19 ‘‘(e) RECONCILIATION OF CREDIT AND ADVANCE 20 PAYMENTS.—The amount of the credit allowed under this 21 section for any taxable year shall be reduced (but not 22 below zero) by the aggregate amount of any advance pay- 23 ments of such credit under section 7527A for such taxable 24 year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3590 IH (b) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF MIDDLE CLASS TAX 1 CREDIT.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal 3 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 4 section 7527 the following new section: 5 ‘‘SEC. 7527A. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF MIDDLE CLASS TAX 6 CREDIT. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 8 the date of the enactment of the LIFT (Livable Incomes 9 for Families Today) the Middle Class Act, the Secretary 10 shall establish a program for making advance payments 11 of the credit allowed under section 36A on a monthly basis 12 (determined without regard to subsection (f) of such sec- 13 tion) to any taxpayer who— 14 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has determined will be al- 15 lowed such credit for the taxable year, and 16 ‘‘(2) has made an election under subsection (c). 17 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 19 (a), the amount of the monthly advance payment of 20 the credit provided to a taxpayer during the applica- 21 ble period shall be equal to the lesser of— 22 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to— 23 ‘‘(i) the amount of the credit which 24 the Secretary has determined will be al- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3590 IH lowed to such taxpayer under section 36A 1 for the taxable year ending in such applica- 2 ble period, divided by 3 ‘‘(ii) 12, or 4 ‘‘(B) such other amount as is elected by 5 the taxpayer. 6 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 7 this section, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 8 12-month period from the month of July of the tax- 9 able year through the month of June of the subse- 10 quent taxable year. 11 ‘‘(c) ELECTION OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.—A taxpayer 12 may elect to receive an advance payment of the credit al- 13 lowed under section 36A for any taxable year by including 14 such election on a timely filed return for the preceding 15 taxable year. 16 ‘‘(d) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE NOTIFICA- 17 TION.—The Internal Revenue Service shall take such 18 steps as may be appropriate to ensure that taxpayers who 19 are eligible to receive the credit under section 36A are 20 aware of the availability of the advance payment of such 21 credit under this section. 22 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may prescribe such 23 regulations or other guidance as may be appropriate or 24 necessary for the purposes of carrying out this section.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3590 IH (c) INCOME DISREGARD.—Any credit or refund al- 1 lowed or made to any individual by reason of section 36A 2 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this 3 section) shall not be taken into account as income and 4 shall not be taken into account as resources for purposes 5 of determining the eligibility of such individual or any 6 other individual for benefits or assistance, or the amount 7 or extent of benefits or assistance, under any Federal pro- 8 gram or under any State or local program financed in 9 whole or in part with Federal funds. 10 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 11 (1) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Rev- 12 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘36A,’’ 13 after ‘‘36,’’. 14 (2) Section 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amend- 15 ed— 16 (A) in subparagraph (F), by inserting ‘‘or 17 section 36A’’ after ‘‘credit)’’; 18 (B) in subparagraph (G), by inserting ‘‘or 19 36A’’ after ‘‘section 32’’; 20 (C) by striking subparagraph (K) and in- 21 serting the following: 22 ‘‘(K) an omission of information required 23 by section 32(k)(2) or 36(e) or an entry on the 24 return claiming— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3590 IH ‘‘(i) the credit under section 32 for a 1 taxable year for which the credit is dis- 2 allowed under subsection (k)(1) thereof, or 3 ‘‘(ii) the credit under section 36A for 4 a taxable year for which the credit is dis- 5 allowed under subsection (d) thereof,’’; and 6 (D) in subparagraph (L), by striking ‘‘or 7 32’’ and inserting ‘‘32, or 36A’’. 8 (3) The table of sections for subpart C of part 9 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is 10 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec- 11 tion 36 the following new item: 12 ‘‘Sec. 36A. Middle class tax credit.’’. (4) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such 13 Code is amended by inserting after the item relating 14 to section 7527 the following: 15 ‘‘Sec. 7527A. Advance payment of middle class tax credit.’’. (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 16 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 17 December 31, 2017. 18 SEC. 3. RETURN PREPARATION PROGRAMS FOR LOW-IN- 19 COME TAXPAYERS. 20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev- 21 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 22 7526 the following new section: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3590 IH ‘‘SEC. 7526A. RETURN PREPARATION PROGRAMS FOR LOW- 1 INCOME TAXPAYERS. 2 ‘‘(a) VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE MATCH- 3 ING GRANT PROGRAM.— 4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec- 5 retary, through the Internal Revenue Service, shall 6 establish a Community Volunteer Income Tax As- 7 sistance Matching Grant Program (hereinafter in 8 this section referred to as the ‘VITA grant pro- 9 gram’). Except as otherwise provided in this section, 10 the VITA grant program shall be administered in a 11 manner which is substantially similar to the Commu- 12 nity Volunteer Income Tax Assistance matching 13 grants demonstration program established under 14 title I of division D of the Consolidated Appropria- 15 tions Act, 2008. 16 ‘‘(2) MATCHING GRANTS.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, 18 subject to the availability of appropriated funds, 19 make available grants under the VITA grant 20 program to provide matching funds for the de- 21 velopment, expansion, or continuation of quali- 22 fied return preparation programs assisting low- 23 income taxpayers and members of underserved 24 populations. 25 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:15 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3590.IH H3590 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3590 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 1 (ii), in order to be eligible for a grant 2 under this section, a qualified return prep- 3 aration program shall submit an applica- 4 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such 5 manner, and containing such information 6 as the Secretary may reasonably require. 7 ‘‘(ii) ACCURACY REVIEW.—In the case 8 of any qualified return preparation pro- 9 gram which was awarded a grant under 10 this section and was subsequently subject 11 to a field site visit by the Internal Revenue 12 Service (includi [Text truncated for display. 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