Payments for the People Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7960 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide direct payments to individuals in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 7, 2020 Ms. DEAN (for herself and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) 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 direct payments to individuals in response to the coronavirus pandemic, 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 ‘‘Payments for the Peo- 4 ple Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL RECOVERY REBATES TO INDIVIDUALS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter B of chapter 65 of the 7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 8 after section 6428 the following new section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7960 IH ‘‘SEC. 6428A. ADDITIONAL RECOVERY REBATES TO INDIVID- 1 UALS. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On each applicable date, each el- 3 igible individual shall be allowed a credit against the tax 4 imposed by subtitle A for the applicable taxable year in 5 an amount equal to the additional rebate amount deter- 6 mined for each quarter in such taxable year. 7 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE DATE.—For purposes of this sec- 8 tion, the term ‘applicable date’ means the first day of the 9 month after the date of the enactment of this section and 10 on the first day of every third month thereafter— 11 ‘‘(1) during the period— 12 ‘‘(A) beginning on the date of the enact- 13 ment of this section, and 14 ‘‘(B) ending in the month beginning after 15 any quarter for which the 3-month average na- 16 tional total unemployment rate is less than 5.5 17 percent and has decreased for the last two 18 months, or 19 ‘‘(2) during any subsequent period— 20 ‘‘(A) beginning in the month beginning 21 after any quarter for which the 3-month aver- 22 age national total unemployment rate is greater 23 than 5.5 percent, and 24 ‘‘(B) ending in the month beginning after 25 any quarter for which the 3-month average na- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7960 IH tional total unemployment rate is less than 5.5 1 percent and has decreased for the last two 2 months. 3 ‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL REBATE AMOUNT.—For purposes 4 of this section, the term ‘additional rebate amount’ means, 5 with respect to any taxpayer— 6 ‘‘(1) with respect to a quarter in which the 3- 7 month average national total unemployment rate is 8 8.5% or higher— 9 ‘‘(A) $2,000 ($4,000 in the case of a joint 10 return), plus 11 ‘‘(B) $2,000 multiplied by the number of 12 dependents of the taxpayer for such taxable 13 year, 14 ‘‘(2) with respect to any quarter in which the 15 3-month average national total unemployment rate 16 is less than 8.5% but greater than or equal to 17 7.0%— 18 ‘‘(A) $1,500 ($3,000 in the case of a joint 19 return), plus 20 ‘‘(B) $1,500 multiplied by the number of 21 dependents of the taxpayer for such taxable 22 year, 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7960 IH ‘‘(3) with respect to any quarter in which the 1 3-month average national total unemployment rate 2 less than 7.0% but greater than or equal to 5.5%— 3 ‘‘(A) $1,000 ($2,000 in the case of a joint 4 return), plus 5 ‘‘(B) $1,000 multiplied by the number of 6 dependents of the taxpayer for such taxable 7 year, 8 ‘‘(4) with respect to any quarter in which the 9 3-month average national total unemployment rate 10 is less than 5.5%, $0. 11 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 12 section, the term ‘eligible individual’ means, with respect 13 to the applicable taxable year, any individual other than— 14 ‘‘(1) any nonresident alien individual, 15 ‘‘(2) any individual with respect to whom a de- 16 duction under section 151 is allowable to another 17 taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the cal- 18 endar year in which the individual’s taxable year be- 19 gins, and 20 ‘‘(3) an estate or trust. 21 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION BASED ON MODIFIED ADJUSTED 22 GROSS INCOME.—The amount of the credit allowed by 23 subsection (a) with respect to an applicable taxable year 24 (determined without regard to this subsection and sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7960 IH section (g)) shall be reduced (but not below zero) by 5 1 percent of so much of the taxpayer’s modified adjusted 2 gross income in such taxable year as exceeds— 3 ‘‘(1) $150,000 in the case of a joint return or 4 a surviving spouse (as defined in section 2(a)), 5 ‘‘(2) $112,500 in the case of a head of house- 6 hold (as defined in section 2(b)), and 7 ‘‘(3) $75,000 in any other case. 8 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 9 ‘‘(1) APPLICABLE TAXABLE YEAR.—For pur- 10 poses of this section, the term ‘applicable taxable 11 year’ means the taxable year ending in the calendar 12 year preceding the date on which a credit under sub- 13 section (a) is allowed. 14 ‘‘(2) MODIFIED ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME.— 15 For purposes of this section, the term ‘modified ad- 16 justed gross income’ means adjusted gross income 17 determined without regard to sections 911, 931, and 18 933. 19 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL TOTAL UNEMPLOYMENT 20 RATE.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘na- 21 tional total unemployment rate’ means the rate de- 22 termined in the most recently available unemploy- 23 ment data release published by the Bureau of Labor 24 Statistics of the Department of Labor. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7960 IH ‘‘(4) DEPENDENT DEFINED.—For purposes of 1 this section, the term ‘dependent’ has the meaning 2 given such term in section 152. 3 ‘‘(5) CREDIT TREATED AS REFUNDABLE.—The 4 credit allowed by subsection (a) shall be treated as 5 allowed by subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of 6 chapter 1. 7 ‘‘(6) IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REQUIRE- 8 MENT.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The credit amount de- 10 termined under subsection (c) shall be treated 11 as being zero unless the taxpayer includes the 12 TIN (as defined in section 7701(a)(41)) of the 13 taxpayer on the return of tax for the taxable 14 year. 15 ‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 16 joint return, the credit amount determined 17 under subsection (c) shall be treated as being— 18 ‘‘(i) zero if the TIN of neither spouse 19 is included on the return of tax for the 20 taxable year, and 21 ‘‘(ii) the amount calculated for a sin- 22 gle filer, if the TIN of only one spouse is 23 so included. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7960 IH ‘‘(C) DEPENDENTS.—A dependent shall 1 not be taken into account under subsection 2 (a)(2) unless the TIN of such dependent is in- 3 cluded on the return of tax for the taxable year. 4 ‘‘(D) SPECIAL RULE FOR MEMBERS OF 5 THE ARMED FORCES.—Paragraph (1) shall not 6 apply to a joint return where at least 1 spouse 7 was a member of the Armed Forces of the 8 United States at any time during the applicable 9 taxable year. 10 ‘‘(E) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN AD- 11 VANCE PAYMENTS.—In the case of any payment 12 made pursuant to subsection (h)(5)(A)(ii), a 13 TIN shall be treated for purposes of this para- 14 graph as included on the taxpayer’s return of 15 tax if such TIN is provided pursuant to such 16 subsection. 17 ‘‘(g) COORDINATION WITH ADVANCE REFUNDS OF 18 CREDIT.— 19 ‘‘(1) REDUCTION OF REFUNDABLE CREDIT.— 20 The amount of the credit which would (but for this 21 paragraph) be allowable under subsection (a) shall 22 be reduced (but not below zero) by the aggregate re- 23 funds and credits made or allowed to the taxpayer 24 (or any dependent of the taxpayer) under subsection 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7960 IH (h). Any failure to so reduce the credit shall be 1 treated as arising out of a mathematical or clerical 2 error and assessed according to section 6213(b)(1). 3 ‘‘(2) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a refund 4 or credit made or allowed under subsection (h) with 5 respect to a joint return, half of such refund or cred- 6 it shall be treated as having been made or allowed 7 to each individual filing such return. 8 ‘‘(h) ADVANCE REFUNDS AND CREDITS.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (5), 10 each individual who was an eligible individual in an 11 applicable taxable year shall be treated as having 12 made a payment against the tax imposed by chapter 13 1 for such taxable year in an amount equal to the 14 advance refund amount for such taxable year. 15 ‘‘(2) ADVANCE REFUND AMOUNT.—For pur- 16 poses of paragraph (1), the advance refund amount 17 is the amount that would have been allowed as a 18 credit under this section for such taxable year if this 19 section (other than subsection (f) and this sub- 20 section) had applied to such taxable year. 21 ‘‘(3) TIMING AND MANNER OF PAYMENTS.— 22 ‘‘(A) TIMING.—The Secretary shall, sub- 23 ject to the provisions of this title, refund or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7960 IH credit any overpayment attributable to this sec- 1 tion as rapidly as possible. 2 ‘‘(B) DELIVERY OF PAYMENTS.—Notwith- 3 standing any other provision of law, the Sec- 4 retary may certify and disburse refunds payable 5 under this section— 6 ‘‘(i) electronically to any account to 7 which the payee authorized, on or after 8 January 1, 2018, the delivery of a refund 9 of taxes under this title or of a Federal 10 payment (as defined in section 3332 of 11 title 31, United States Code), 12 ‘‘(ii) to a Direct Express prepaid debit 13 card, or 14 ‘‘(iii) in the event that electronic dis- 15 bursement or Direct Express payment is 16 not possible, through such other means as 17 are determined appropriate by the Sec- 18 retary, including through the use of stored 19 value cards and online payment systems. 20 ‘‘(C) WAIVER OF CERTAIN RULES.—Not- 21 withstanding section 3325 of title 31, United 22 States Code, or any other provision of law, with 23 respect to any payment of a refund under this 24 subsection, a disbursing official in the executive 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7960 IH branch of the United States Government may 1 modify payment information received from an 2 officer or employee described in section 3 3325(a)(1)(B) of such title for the purpose of 4 facilitating the accurate and efficient delivery of 5 such payment. Except in cases of fraud or reck- 6 less neglect, no liability under section 3325, 7 3527, 3528, or 3529 of title 31, United States 8 Code, shall be imposed with respect to pay- 9 ments made under this subparagraph. 10 ‘‘(4) NO INTEREST.—No interest shall be al- 11 lowed on any overpayment attributable to this sec- 12 tion. 13 ‘‘(5) APPLICATION TO INDIVIDUALS WHO DO 14 NOT FILE A RETURN OF TAX FOR APPLICABLE TAX 15 YEAR.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi- 17 vidual who, at the time of any determination 18 made pursuant to paragraph (3), has not filed 19 a tax return for an applicable tax year de- 20 scribed in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 21 ‘‘(i) apply paragraph (1) by sub- 22 stituting the taxable year preceding the ap- 23 plicable taxable year, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7960 IH ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual who 1 has not filed a tax return for the taxable 2 year described in clause (i), determine the 3 advance refund amount with respect to 4 such individual on the basis of information 5 with respect to such individual which— 6 ‘‘(I) in the case of a specified so- 7 cial security beneficiary or a specified 8 supplemental security income recipi- 9 ent, is provided by the Commissioner 10 of Social Security, 11 ‘‘(II) in the case of a specified 12 railroad retirement beneficiary, is pro- 13 vided by the Railroad Retirement 14 Board, 15 ‘‘(III) in the case of a specified 16 veterans beneficiary, is provided by 17 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (in 18 coordination with, and with the assist- 19 ance of, the Commissioner of Social 20 Security if appropriate), and 21 ‘‘(IV) in the case of any other in- 22 dividual, is determined using aggre- 23 gate payment information provided by 24 the employer of such individual, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7960 IH cluding information provided on Form 1 W–2 or Form 1099. 2 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIED SOCIAL SECURITY BENE- 3 FICIARY.—For purposes of this paragraph— 4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘speci- 5 fied social security beneficiary’ means any 6 individual who, for the last month that 7 ends prior to the date of enactment of this 8 section, is entitled to any monthly insur- 9 ance benefit payable under title II of the 10 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et 11 seq.), including payments made pursuant 12 to sections 202(d), 223(g), and 223(i)(7) 13 of such Act. 14 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall 15 not include any individual if such benefit is 16 not payable for such month by reason of 17 section 202(x) of the Social Security Act 18 (42 U.S.C. 402(x)) or section 1129A of 19 such Act (42 U.S.C. 1320a–8a). 20 ‘‘(C) SPECIFIED SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY 21 INCOME RECIPIENT.—For purposes of this 22 paragraph— 23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘speci- 24 fied supplemental security income recipi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:04 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7960.IH H7960 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 7960 IH ent’ means any individual who, for the last 1 month that ends prior to the date of enact- 2 ment of this section, is eligible for a 3 monthly benefit payable under title XVI of 4 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et 5 seq.) (other tha [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]