The Stronger Start for Working Families Act would cut taxes for these families by allowing them to begin earning refundable CTC benefits beginning with the first dollar of income that they earn, rather than only for income over $2,500.
Allow working families to begin receiving refundable Child Tax Credit benefits starting with their first dollar of income, rather than only income over $2,500, to cut taxes for families with children.
Occurrences
Evidence
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H.R. 10282 was introduced in the House on September 3, 2026 by Carol Miller with Steven Horsford, Maria Salazar, and Chris Pappas, and was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill would amend Internal Revenue Code section 24(d)(1)(B)(i) by replacing the earned-income threshold with $1 and would apply after December 31, 2025.
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Public Law 117-2, section 9611, created special Child Tax Credit rules for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020 and before January 1, 2022. For eligible U.S. or Puerto Rico taxpayers, subsection 24(d) did not apply and the credit was allowed as refundable, with advance payment rules also created.
Assessments
The promised policy was delivered only temporarily. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 made the Child Tax Credit fully or more broadly refundable for tax year 2021 and allowed advance payments, which effectively removed the earned-income threshold for that year and counts as same-term partial fulfillment. The ongoing policy was not made durable, and the 2026 Stronger Start for Working Families Act, which Pappas cosponsored and which matches the first-dollar refundable CTC promise, remains only introduced and referred to committee as of September 9, 2026. That supports credit for effort but not full delivery.