Foster Opportunity EITC Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4954 To amend the Internal Revenue Act of 1986 to strengthen the earned income tax credit and expand eligibility for childless individuals, homeless youth, and qualified foster youth. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 31, 2019 Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Act of 1986 to strengthen the earned income tax credit and expand eligibility for childless individuals, homeless youth, and qualified foster youth. 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 ‘‘Foster Opportunity 4 EITC Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4954 IH SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CRED- 1 IT. 2 (a) INCREASED CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO 3 QUALIFYING CHILDREN.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The table in subparagraph 5 (A) of section 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 6 of 1986 is amended— 7 (A) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ in the second col- 8 umn of the third row and inserting ‘‘$10,180’’, 9 and 10 (B) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the third col- 11 umn of the third row and inserting ‘‘$11,380’’. 12 (2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 13 (B) of section 32(j)(1) of such Code is amended— 14 (A) in clause (i)— 15 (i) by inserting ‘‘(except as provided 16 in clause (iii))’’ after ‘‘(b)(2)(A)’’, and 17 (ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, 18 (B) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause 19 (iii), and 20 (C) by inserting after clause (i) the fol- 21 lowing new clause: 22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of the $10,180 and 23 $11,380 amounts in the table in subsection 24 (b)(2)(A), ‘calendar year 2017’ for ‘cal- 25 endar year 1992’, and’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4954 IH (b) CREDIT INCREASE AND REDUCTION IN PHASE- 1 OUT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO CHILDREN.—The table 2 contained in section 32(b)(1)(A) of such Code is amend- 3 ed— 4 (1) by striking ‘‘7.65’’ in the second column of 5 the fourth row and inserting ‘‘20’’, and 6 (2) by striking ‘‘7.65’’ in the third column of 7 the fourth row and inserting ‘‘15.98’’. 8 (c) ELIGIBILITY AGE LIMITS.— 9 (1) UPPER AGE LIMIT.—Subclause (II) of sec- 10 tion 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is amended by 11 striking ‘‘age 65’’ and inserting ‘‘age 68’’. 12 (2) LOWERING ELIGIBILITY AGE FOR CERTAIN 13 CHILDLESS INDIVIDUALS, HOMELESS YOUTH, AND 14 QUALIFIED FOSTER YOUTH.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subclause (II) of sec- 16 tion 32(c)(1)(A)(ii) of such Code is amended by 17 striking ‘‘age 25’’ and inserting ‘‘age 19 (or, in 18 the case of homeless youth and qualified foster 19 youth, age 18)’’. 20 (B) HOMELESS YOUTH AND QUALIFIED 21 FOSTER YOUTH.—Paragraph (1) of section 22 32(c) of such Code is amended by adding at the 23 end the following new subparagraphs: 24 ‘‘(G) HOMELESS YOUTH.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4954 IH ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 1 subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), the term ‘home- 2 less youth’ means— 3 ‘‘(I) an unaccompanied youth 4 who has not attained age 24 and who 5 is a homeless child or youth (as de- 6 fined in section 725 of the McKinney- 7 Vento Homeless Assistance Act), or 8 ‘‘(II) an individual who is deter- 9 mined by a specified official to be un- 10 accompanied, at risk of homelessness, 11 and self-supporting. 12 ‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION FOR HOMELESS 13 YOUTH.—No credit shall be allowed under 14 this section by reason of clause (i) to any 15 individual unless such individual attests on 16 the return of tax for the taxable year that 17 the individual is a homeless youth and that 18 no other taxpayer is entitled to claim such 19 individual as a qualifying child for pur- 20 poses of this section or section 24 for the 21 taxable year. The Secretary, in consulta- 22 tion with the National Taxpayer Advocate 23 and national homeless youth advocates, 24 shall issue regulations— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4954 IH ‘‘(I) determining the information 1 on relevant tax forms or documenta- 2 tion necessary to demonstrate home- 3 less youth status in the case of an 4 audit of the return, and 5 ‘‘(II) providing that a docu- 6 mented phone call with or a written 7 statement from a specified official 8 shall be treated as sufficient to verify 9 the status of an individual as a home- 10 less youth. 11 ‘‘(iii) SPECIFIED OFFICIAL.—For pur- 12 poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘spec- 13 ified official’ means— 14 ‘‘(I) a local educational agency 15 homeless liaison designated pursuant 16 to section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 17 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 18 Act (or a designee of such liaison), 19 ‘‘(II) the director of an emer- 20 gency or transitional shelter street 21 outreach program, homeless youth 22 drop-in center, or other program serv- 23 ing homeless youth (or a designee of 24 such director), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4954 IH ‘‘(III) the director of a Federal 1 TRIO program or a Gaining Early 2 Awareness and Readiness for Under- 3 graduate program under chapter 1 or 4 2 of subpart 2 of part A of title IV of 5 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (or 6 a designee of such director), or 7 ‘‘(IV) a financial aid adminis- 8 trator (within the meaning of the 9 Higher Education Act of 1965) (or a 10 designee of such administrator). 11 ‘‘(H) QUALIFIED FOSTER YOUTH.— 12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 13 subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), the term ‘quali- 14 fied foster youth’ means an individual who 15 was in foster care on or after the date that 16 such individual attained age 14, if such 17 care was under the supervision or adminis- 18 tration of a State or tribal agency admin- 19 istering (or eligible to administer) a plan 20 under part B or part E of the Social Secu- 21 rity Act (without regard to whether Fed- 22 eral assistance was provided with respect 23 to such child under such part E). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4954 IH ‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION OF QUALIFIED 1 FOSTER YOUTH.—The Secretary in con- 2 sultation with the National Taxpayer Ad- 3 vocate and the Children’s Bureau, Admin- 4 istration for Children and Families, shall 5 issue regulations determining information 6 for relevant tax forms, providing criteria 7 for verifying an individual as a qualified 8 foster youth during any transition period 9 between the date of the enactment of this 10 subparagraph and the establishment of an 11 operational data reporting system de- 12 scribed in section 6050Z(a) if such indi- 13 vidual is not listed in the verification data- 14 base described in 6050Z(a), or in the case 15 of an audit of the return. The Secretary 16 shall consider the use for such purposes of 17 court or official State documentation, 18 verification from entities such as a child 19 welfare agency, case worker, Court Ap- 20 pointed Special Advocate, attorney, guard- 21 ian ad litem, Federal TRIO or a Gaining 22 Early Awareness and Readiness for Under- 23 graduate Program under chapter 1 of sub- 24 part 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4954 IH Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 1 11 et seq.) or other recognized State, coun- 2 ty, or tribal authority, and verification 3 through the John H. Chafee Foster Care 4 Program for Successful Transition to 5 Adulthood under section 477 of the Social 6 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677). During any 7 transition period between the enactment of 8 this subparagraph and the establishment 9 of an operational data reporting system de- 10 scribed in section 6050Z(a), no credit shall 11 be allowed under this section by reason of 12 clause (i) to any individual unless such in- 13 dividual attests on the return of tax for the 14 taxable year that the individual is a quali- 15 fied foster youth and that no other tax- 16 payer is entitled to claim such individual 17 as a qualified child for purposes of this 18 section or section 24 for the taxable year. 19 In the situation that an adult can claim a 20 qualified foster youth for purposes of this 21 section or section 24, the Secretary shall 22 develop a form to indicate that the adult 23 will not claim the qualified foster youth for 24 the taxable year.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4954 IH (C) RETURNS RELATING TO YOUTH IN 1 FOSTER CARE.— 2 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part 3 III of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such 4 Code is amended by inserting after section 5 6050Y the following new section: 6 ‘‘SEC. 6050Z. RETURNS RELATING TO YOUTH IN FOSTER 7 CARE. 8 ‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF REPORTING.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State, local, or tribal 10 agency providing foster care under a plan approved 11 under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security 12 Act shall make a return, at such times as the Sec- 13 retary may prescribe, described in subsection (b) 14 with respect to any individual under the placement 15 and responsibility of such State, locality, or tribe on 16 or after the date that such individual attained age 17 14. 18 ‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF DATA REPORTING SYS- 19 TEM.—The Secretary shall work with the Children’s 20 Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, 21 to develop a data reporting system which satisfies 22 the return requirements of paragraph (1). 23 ‘‘(3) SINGLE RETURN.—Except as provided by 24 the Secretary, a State, local, or tribal agency de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4954 IH scribed in paragraph (1) which has made a return 1 for an individual described in such paragraph shall 2 not be required to make a return for such individual 3 for any subsequent calendar year. 4 ‘‘(b) FORM AND MANNER OF RETURNS.—A return 5 is described in this subsection if such return— 6 ‘‘(1) is in such form as the Secretary may pre- 7 scribe, and 8 ‘‘(2) contains, with respect to each individual 9 described in subsection (a)(1)— 10 ‘‘(A) the name, date of birth, and TIN of 11 such individual, and 12 ‘‘(B) such other information as the Sec- 13 retary may prescribe in consultation with the 14 Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children 15 and Families. 16 ‘‘(c) STATEMENT TO BE FURNISHED TO INDIVID- 17 UALS WITH RESPECT TO WHOM INFORMATION IS RE- 18 QUIRED.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every person required to 20 make a return under subsection (a) shall furnish to 21 each person whose name is required to be set forth 22 in such return a written statement showing— 23 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the person 24 required to make such return and the phone 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4954 IH number of the information contact for such per- 1 son, and 2 ‘‘(B) the information required to be shown 3 on the return with respect to such individual. 4 ‘‘(2) DATE.—The written statement required 5 under paragraph (1) shall be furnished on or before 6 January 31 of the year following the calendar year 7 for which the return under subsection (a) is required 8 to be made.’’. 9 (ii) ASSESSABLE PENALTIES.—Sub- 10 paragraph (B) of section 6724(d)(1) of 11 such Code is amended— 12 (I) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of 13 clause (xxv), 14 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 15 of clause (xxvi) and inserting ‘‘or’’, 16 and 17 (III) by inserting after clause 18 (xxvi) the following new clause: 19 ‘‘(xxvii) section 6050Z (relating to re- 20 turns relating to youth in foster care),’’. 21 (iii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 22 table of sections for subpart B of part III 23 of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4954 IH Code is amended by adding at the end the 1 following new item: 2 ‘‘Sec. 6050Z. Returns relating to youth in foster care.’’. (d) ELIGIBILITY FOR WORKING HOMELESS AND 3 FORMER FOSTER YOUTH WHO ARE FULL-TIME STU- 4 DENTS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 32(c)(1) of such 5 Code is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 6 preceding sentence shall not apply to— 7 ‘‘(1) a homeless youth (as defined in subpara- 8 graph (G)), or 9 ‘‘(2) a qualified foster youth (as defined in sub- 10 paragraph (H)), 11 who is a student (as defined in section 152(f)(2)) for the 12 taxable year.’’. 13 (e) INFORMATION RETURN MATCHING.—Not later 14 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 15 the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 16 shall develop and implement procedures for checking an 17 individual’s claim for the credit under section 32 of the 18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 against claims by other 19 taxpayers for tax credits relating to higher education with 20 respect to dependent college students. 21 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 22 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 23 December 31, 2018. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:33 Nov 08, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4954.IH H4954 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS