RELIEF Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6290 To provide economic stimulus through advanced refundable tax credits to all individuals during the COVID–19 crisis, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 19, 2020 Ms. OMAR (for herself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To provide economic stimulus through advanced refundable tax credits to all individuals during the COVID–19 crisis, 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 ‘‘Reinvestment to En- 4 sure a Livable Income for Every Family Act of 2020’’ or 5 the ‘‘RELIEF Act of 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7 It is the sense of Congress that— 8 (1) COVID–19 has contributed to major dis- 9 ruptions to the United States society and economy, 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6290 IH putting the health and financial well-being of many 1 Americans at risk; 2 (2) direct economic stimulus such as advanced 3 refundable tax credits, referred to as universal emer- 4 gency rebates in this Act, can help bring much need- 5 ed relief to people who need short-term payments 6 now in order to get by during this crisis; 7 (3) these direct payments should supplement 8 the immediate, substantial expansion of existing so- 9 cial insurance programs including but not limited to 10 unemployment insurance, supplemental nutrition as- 11 sistance program, Medicaid, as well as relief for 12 small businesses and other emergency economic 13 measures; 14 (4) as soon as possible and not later than two 15 weeks after the date of the enactment of this Act, 16 the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with 17 the Commissioner of the Social Security Administra- 18 tion and the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue 19 Service, must establish a program for sending direct 20 emergency rebates, in the form of electronic and 21 paper payments, on a monthly basis, for every indi- 22 vidual residing in the United States and its terri- 23 tories; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6290 IH (5) every qualifying adult over the age of 18 1 would receive $1,000 and every qualifying dependent 2 child under the age of 18 would receive $500; 3 (6) only the top 1 percent of income earners 4 would have post taxes on these benefits in the next 5 filing season and the rest of Americans would not 6 face any tax penalties or extra costs, and so would 7 be held harmless for any overpayments or other de- 8 livery errors; and 9 (7) these advanced refundable tax credits would 10 be transferred every month until the COVID–19 11 pandemic is formally declared and certified as ended 12 from the Secretary of the Treasury and the Sec- 13 retary of Health and Human Services. 14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF 2020 UNIVERSAL EMERGENCY 15 REBATES FOR INDIVIDUALS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 6429 of the Internal Rev- 17 enue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘SEC. 6429. 2020 UNIVERSAL REBATES FOR INDIVIDUALS. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible tax- 20 payer, there shall be allowed as a credit against tax im- 21 posed by subtitle A for the first taxable year beginning 22 in 2020 an amount equal to the lesser of— 23 ‘‘(1) net income tax liability, or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6290 IH ‘‘(2) $1,000 ($2,000 in the case of a joint re- 1 turn). 2 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULES.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible 4 taxpayer described in paragraph (2)— 5 ‘‘(A) the amount determined under sub- 6 section (a) shall not be less than $1,000 7 ($2,000 in the case of a joint return), and 8 ‘‘(B) the amount determined under sub- 9 section (a) (after application of subparagraph 10 (A)) shall be increased by the product of $500 11 multiplied by the number of qualifying children 12 (within the meaning of section 24(c)) of the 13 taxpayer. 14 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER DESCRIBED.—A tax- 15 payer is described in this paragraph if the tax- 16 payer— 17 ‘‘(A) is at least 18 years of age as of De- 18 cember 31, 2020, 19 ‘‘(B) is a resident of the United States, or 20 ‘‘(C) is not a dependent of another tax- 21 payer. 22 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF CREDIT.—The credit allowed by 23 subsection (a) shall be treated as allowed by subpart C 24 of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6290 IH ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH ADVANCE REFUNDS OF 1 CREDIT.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of credit 3 which would (but for this paragraph) be allowable 4 under this section shall be reduced (but not below 5 zero) by the aggregate refunds and credits made or 6 allowed to the taxpayer under subsection (g). Any 7 failure to so reduce the credit shall be treated as 8 arising out of a mathematical or clerical error and 9 assessed according to section 6213(b)(1). Taxpayers 10 would be held harmless. 11 ‘‘(2) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a refund 12 or credit made or allowed under subsection (g) with 13 respect to a joint return, half of such refund or cred- 14 it shall be treated as having been made or allowed 15 to each individual filing such return. 16 ‘‘(e) ADVANCE REFUNDS AND CREDITS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each individual who was 18 an eligible individual for such individual’s first tax- 19 able year beginning in 2019 shall be treated as hav- 20 ing made a payment against the tax imposed by 21 chapter 1 for such first taxable year in an amount 22 equal to the advance refund amount for such taxable 23 year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6290 IH ‘‘(2) ADVANCE REFUND AMOUNT.—For pur- 1 poses of paragraph (1), the advance refund amount 2 is the amount that would have been allowed as a 3 credit under this section for such first taxable year 4 if this section (other than subsection (f) and this 5 subsection) had applied to such taxable year. 6 ‘‘(3) TIMING OF PAYMENTS.—The Secretary 7 shall, subject to the provisions of this title, refund 8 or credit any overpayment attributable to this sec- 9 tion as rapidly as possible on a monthly basis and 10 a pro rata amount for partial universal emergency 11 rebate period in the first month of the implementa- 12 tion of this Act. No refund or credit shall be made 13 or allowed under this subsection after the COVID– 14 19 outbreak is over, as declared by the Secretary of 15 the Treasury and the Secretary of Health and 16 Human Services lifting designations of national eco- 17 nomic turmoil and public health emergency, respec- 18 tively. 19 ‘‘(4) PRO RATA AMOUNTS.—The pro rata 20 amount for each partial universal emergency rebate 21 period shall be calculated by multiplying the monthly 22 amount for a full universal emergency rebate that 23 would be paid to the beneficiary based on household 24 size for such a period by the percentage calculated 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6290 IH by dividing the number of days of the partial uni- 1 versal emergency rebate period by the number of 2 days of the month. 3 ‘‘(5) CONGRESSIONAL EXTENSION OF PAY- 4 MENTS.—The last cycle of payments will come up in 5 the following quarter after the COVID–19 pandemic 6 is certified to be over by the Secretary of the Treas- 7 ury and the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 8 ices. Congress will have until such quarter is done 9 to reexamine and decide if there is still further eco- 10 nomic need to extend these payments. 11 ‘‘(6) NO INTEREST.—No interest shall be al- 12 lowed on any overpayment attributable to this sec- 13 tion.’’. 14 (b) TREATMENT OF POSSESSIONS.— 15 (1) PAYMENT TO POSSESSIONS.— 16 (A) MIRROR CODE POSSESSION.—The Sec- 17 retary of Treasury shall make a payment to 18 each possession of the United States with a 19 mirror code tax system in an amount equal to 20 the loss to that possession. Such amount shall 21 be determined by the information provided by 22 the Government of the respective possession. 23 (B) OTHER POSSESSIONS.—The Secretary 24 of Treasury shall make a payment to each pos- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6290 IH session of the United States which does not 1 have a mirror code tax system in an amount es- 2 timated by the Secretary of the Treasury as 3 being equal to the aggregate benefits that would 4 have been provided to residents of such posses- 5 sion if a mirror code tax system had been in ef- 6 fect in such possession. The preceding sentence 7 shall not apply with respect to any possession 8 of the United States unless such possession has 9 a plan, which has been approved by the Sec- 10 retary of the Treasury, under which such pos- 11 session will promptly distribute such payment 12 to the residents of such possession. 13 (2) COORDINATION WITH CREDIT ALLOWED 14 AGAINST UNITED STATES INCOME TAXES.—No cred- 15 it shall be allowed against United States income 16 taxes under section 6428 of the Internal Revenue 17 Code of 1986 (as amended by this section) to any 18 person— 19 (A) to whom a credit is allowed against 20 taxes imposed by the possession by reason of 21 the amendments made by this section; or 22 (B) who is eligible for payment under a 23 plan described in paragraph (1)(B). 24 (3) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6290 IH (A) POSSESSION OF THE UNITED 1 STATES.—For purposes of this subsection, the 2 term ‘‘possession of the United States’’ includes 3 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the 4 Commonwealth of the North Mariana Islands. 5 (B) MIRROR CODE TAX SYSTEM.—For pur- 6 poses of this subsection, the term ‘‘mirror code 7 system’’ means, with respect to any possession 8 in the United States, the income tax system of 9 such possession if the income tax lability of the 10 residents of such possession under such system 11 is determined by reference to the income tax 12 laws of the United States as if such possession 13 were the United States. 14 (C) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS.—For pur- 15 poses of section 1324(b)(2) of title 31, United 16 States Code, the payments under this sub- 17 section shall be treated in the same manner as 18 a refund due from the credit allowed under sec- 19 tion 6428 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 20 (as amended by this section). 21 (c) REFUNDS DISREGARDED IN THE ADMINISTRA- 22 TION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND FEDERALLY AS- 23 SISTED PROGRAMS.—Any credit or refund allowed or 24 made to any individual by reason of section 6248 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6290 IH Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by this sec- 1 tion) or by reason of subsection (c) of this section shall 2 not be taken into account as resources for the enacted 3 month and the following months until funds are formally 4 halted by decree from the Departments of the Treasury 5 and the Health and Human Services, for purposes of de- 6 termining eligibility of such individual or any other indi- 7 vidual for 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) APPROPRIATIONS TO CARRY OUT REBATES.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Immediately upon the enact- 12 ment of this Act, the following sums are appro- 13 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other- 14 wise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending Sep- 15 tember 30, 2020. 16 (A) DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.— 17 (i) For an additional amount for ‘‘De- 18 partment of the Treasury—Financial Man- 19 agement Service—Salaries and Expenses’’, 20 $76,370,000, to remain available until 21 September 30, 2021. 22 (ii) For an additional amount for 23 ‘‘Department of the Treasury—Internal 24 Revenue Service—Operations Support’’, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6290 IH $180,185,000, to remain available until 1 September 30, 2021. 2 (iii) For an additional amount for 3 ‘‘Department of the Treasury—Internal 4 Revenue Service—Taxpayer Services’’, 5 $65,300,000, to remain available until 6 September 30, 2021. 7 (B) SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION.— 8 For an additional amount for ‘‘Social Security 9 Administration—Limitation on Administrative 10 Expenses’’, $39,000,000, to remain available 11 until September 30, 2021. 12 (2) REPORTS.—No later than 15 days after en- 13 actment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 14 shall submit a plan to the Committees on Appropria- 15 tions of the House of Representatives and the Sen- 16 ate detailing the expected use of the funds provided 17 by paragraph (1)(A). Beginning 90 days after enact- 18 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall 19 submit a quarterly report to the Committees on Ap- 20 propriations of the House of Representatives and the 21 Senate detailing the actual expenditure of funds pro- 22 vided in paragraph (1)(A) and the expected expendi- 23 ture of such funds in the subsequent quarter. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 Mar 31, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6290.IH H6290 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6290 IH SEC. 4. ADDITIONAL APPLICATION PROCESSES. 1 The Secretary of the Treasury shall establish an ex- 2 pedited process by which individuals may provide nec- 3 essary information to apply for and streamline access to 4 temporary payments for universal emergency rebates out- 5 side the annual tax return process utilizing— 6 (1) information from the beneficiary’s most re- 7 cent tax return if the beneficiary has filed previously 8 and such return is for 2018 or 2019; and 9 (2) any additional or alternative information 10 submission deemed necessary by the Secretary of the 11 Treasury to facilitate application and prompt de [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]