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S 1286
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Tax Fairness for Workers Act

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow workers an above- the-line deduction for union dues and expenses and to allow a miscellaneous itemized deduction for workers for all unreimbursed expenses incurred in the trade or business of being an employee.

Introduced Apr 3, 2025

Latest action (Apr 3, 2025) Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Referred to
Finance Committee
Policy area
Taxation
Issues
Economy & Taxes

Summary

This bill amends the tax code to provide two new deductions for workers. First, it allows workers to deduct union dues and expenses as an above-the-line deduction, meaning the deduction reduces adjusted gross income and can be claimed regardless of whether the taxpayer itemizes deductions. Second, it allows workers to claim a miscellaneous itemized deduction for unreimbursed work-related expenses incurred as an employee, such as professional fees or specialized equipment, which are currently not deductible. These deductions would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024, and would allow employees to recover costs associated with their employment that are not reimbursed by their employers.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
35 cosponsors

Actions (2)
  1. Apr 3, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
  2. Apr 3, 2025 Introduced in Senate

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • HR 2671 — Tax Fairness for Workers Act · Introduced Apr 7, 2025 · Cong. 119 92%
  • HR 3967 — CREATE JOBS Act · Introduced Jun 12, 2025 · Cong. 119 77%
  • HR 4280 — Bipartisan Tax Fairness Act of 2025 · Introduced Jul 2, 2025 · Cong. 119 75%
  • HR 808 — Fairness for the Trades Act · Introduced Jan 28, 2025 · Cong. 119 75%
  • S 1372 — Tax Cut for Workers Act of 2025 · Introduced Apr 9, 2025 · Cong. 119 75%
  • HR 3662 — Labor Income Fairness and Transparency Act · Introduced May 29, 2025 · Cong. 119 73%

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 3, 2025

Ms. Smith (for herself, Mr. Lujan, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Warnock, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rosen, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Bennet, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Gallego, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Schatz, Mr. Welch, Ms. Slotkin, Ms. Warren, Mr. Sanders, Mr. King, Mr. Kelly, Mr. Markey, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Booker) 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 allow workers an above- the-line deduction for union dues and expenses and to allow a miscellaneous itemized deduction for workers for all unreimbursed expenses incurred in the trade or business of being an employee.

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 “Tax Fairness for Workers Act”.

SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE OF DEDUCTION FOR CERTAIN EXPENSES OF THE TRADE OR BUSINESS OF BEING AN EMPLOYEE.

(a) Above-the-Line Deduction for Union Dues and Expenses.—Section 62(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “The limitation under the preceding sentence shall not apply to deductions which are attributable to a trade or business consisting of the performance of services by the taxpayer as an employee if such deductions are for union dues and expenses.”.

(b) Allowance of Miscellaneous Itemized Deduction for Other Expenses of the Trade or Business of Being an Employee.—Section 67(g) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(1) by striking “2025.—Notwithstanding subsection (a),” and inserting “2025.—

“(1) In general.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), except as provided in paragraph (2),”; and

(2) by adding at the end the following:

“(2) Exception for expenses of the trade or business of being an employee.—

“(A) In general.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to miscellaneous itemized deductions for any taxable year which are itemized deductions attributable to a trade or business carried on by the taxpayer which consists of the performance of services by the taxpayer as an employee.

“(B) Application of 2-percent test.—In applying subsection (a) for any taxable year to which this paragraph applies, only the itemized deductions described in subparagraph (A) shall be taken into account as miscellaneous itemized deductions.”.

(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024. <all>

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