Reignite Hope Act of 2025
The Reignite Hope Act of 2025 (H.R. 782) pairs two main ideas: (1) create a new, temporary tax credit to encourage employers to hire a defined set of “critical” workers in qualified Opportunity Zones, and (2) permanently extend and modify common-sense rules for the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to expand benefits for families with children while phasing out the credit as income rises. The bill would add a new $3,500 credit for each hired critical employee (with a three-year sunset), and would overhaul the child tax credit to provide larger per-child credits, a temporary additional credit for non-child dependents, and a higher refundable portion calculated as 15.3% of earned income. The changes to the CTC are designed to be easier to claim and to provide broader support for families, while the critical-employee credit targets workforce needs in economically distressed zones. In short, the bill aims to boost workforce recruitment in Opportunity Zones and to substantially increase government support for families with children, while making these expansions temporary (for the critical-employee credit) and behaviorally targeted (income-based phaseouts and eligibility rules for the CTC).
Key Points
- 1New Credit for Hired Critical Employees (Section 25F)
- 2- Establishes a $3,500 credit against the tax for each “critical employee” hired.
- 3- Eligible occupations include: healthcare professionals (specifically certified nursing assistants; licensed practical or registered nurses), law enforcement officers, rescue squad/ambulance crew, firefighters, eligible child care providers, and personal/home care aides.
- 4- Requirement: employer must certify the employee worked full-time for at least 75% of the taxable year in a professional capacity, and the primary place of employment for the majority of hours must be in a qualified opportunity zone (QOZ).
- 5- The QOZ is defined as a census tract designated as a QOZ under the standard statute as of enactment.
- 6- Sunset: no credit for taxable years beginning after the date that is three years from enactment (i.e., a temporary program).
- 7- Effective date: applies to taxable years beginning after enactment.
- 8Qualified Opportunity Zone and Certification Details
- 9- The employer must certify the employee’s full-time status (75% or more) and that the majority of hours are in a QOZ.
- 10- The list of eligible occupations is narrow and targeted to essential public safety, health care, and care-provision roles.
- 11Permanent Extension and Modification of the Child Tax Credit (Section 3)
- 12- Applies a new structure to the Child Tax Credit:
- 13- $3,500 credit for each qualifying child.
- 14- $4,500 for a qualifying child who has not attained age 6 by year-end.
- 15- Temporary additional credit for dependents (non-child): $500 for each qualifying dependent for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2026.
- 16- Phaseout: credit begins to reduce by $50 for each $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) above $400,000 for joint filers (and $200,000 for other filers).
- 17- Definitions:
- 18- Qualifying child continues to be a qualifying dependent who is a qualifying child (under 18 and with a valid SSN on the return).
- 19- Qualifying dependent means any dependent (per the tax code) whose name and TIN appear on the return.
- 20- SSN rules require a Social Security number issued by the SSA on or before the filing due date.
- 21- Refundable portion changes:
- 22- The refundable part of the credit is adjusted to be 15.3% of earned income (defined as earned income for EITC purposes), removing certain prior limitations and references.
- 23- Administrative/clean-up changes:
- 24- Repeals or renames certain provisions and deadwood references to streamline the credit.
- 25- Effective date: applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024 (i.e., starting in 2025).