S 268119th CongressIn Committee

Saving American Workers’ Benefits Act of 2025

Introduced: Jan 28, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

Saving American Workers’ Benefits Act of 2025 would tighten eligibility for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) by requiring that the Social Security Numbers (SSNs) provided on tax returns are valid for employment. Specifically, taxpayers claiming CTC or EITC, and their qualifying children, would have to provide SSNs that are issued by the Social Security Administration and indicate that the individual is authorized to work in the United States. The bill also changes IRS “math error” procedures to rely on SSNs rather than taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) and makes related conforming amendments. The changes would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, effectively starting with the 2026 tax year. In short, the bill aims to reduce improper or fraudulent credit claims by tying eligibility to work-authorized SSNs and aligning IRS error corrections with SSN data.

Key Points

1Child Tax Credit identification requirements:
2- On the tax return, a taxpayer must include the SSN for each qualifying child and the taxpayer (and spouse on a joint return).
3- The SSN must be issued by the SSA, be issued to someone authorized to work in the United States, and be issued before the tax return’s due date.
4- If an SSN does not indicate work authorization, it would not qualify for the credit.
5Earned Income Credit identification requirements:
6- For the EITC, the identification standard would be updated to require an SSN that indicates the individual is authorized to work (replacing the prior standard that could allow other kinds of numbers).
7- This applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
8IRS enforcement and conformity changes:
9- Math error authority would use SSNs in place of TINs when correcting returns.
10- A conforming amendment removes a provision (paragraph (7)) from section 24(h) referenced in the bill.
11Effective date:
12- The amendments would apply to tax years starting after December 31, 2025 (i.e., beginning with the 2026 tax year).

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected:- Taxpayers claiming the Child Tax Credit and/or the Earned Income Credit, including families with qualifying children and those filing jointly.Secondary group/area affected:- Employers and the Social Security Administration (as the SSN validity for employment becomes central to tax credits).- Tax preparers and IRS staff due to new documentation and math-error procedures.Additional impacts:- Potential reduction in improper or fraudulent credit claims by ensuring only work-authorized SSNs are used.- Possible increased administrative burden for taxpayers who must ensure their own and their children’s SSNs indicate employment authorization.- Mixed-status or immigrant families could be differently affected if some members’ SSNs do not indicate work authorization, potentially changing credit eligibility.- Those relying on ITINs or non-work-authorized numbers for tax credits would face reduced or eliminated eligibility under this framework.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 1, 2025