II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5254 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance the employerprovided child care credit. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) 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 enhance 

the employer-provided child care credit. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Care for Amer5 ican Families Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN EMPLOYER-PROVIDED CHILD CARE 

7 CREDIT AMOUNT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 45F(a)(1) of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘25 per10 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘the applicable percentage’’. 


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•S 5254 IS

1 (b) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.—Section 45F(a) of 

2 such Code, as amended by subsection (a), is amended— 

3 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

4 subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and by 

5 moving the margins of such subparagraphs 2 ems to 

6 the right, 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘For purposes’’ and inserting 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘(1) CREDIT ALLOWED.—For purposes’’, and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para14 graph (1)(A), the applicable percentage is— 

15 ‘‘(i) except as otherwise provided in 

16 this paragraph, 40 percent, 

17 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any qualified child 

18 care expenditures of an eligible small busi19 ness, 50 percent, and 

20 ‘‘(iii) in the case of any qualified child 

21 care expenditures paid or incurred in con22 nection with a qualified child care facility 

23 located in a eligible census tract, 60 per24 cent. 


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•S 5254 IS

1 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE SMALL BUSINESS.—For 

2 purposes of subparagraph (A), the term ‘eligible 

3 small business’ means, with respect to any tax4 able year, any taxpayer if the annual average 

5 number of employees employed by such person 

6 during either of the 2 preceding taxable years 

7 was 500 or fewer. For purposes of the pre8 ceding sentence, a preceding taxable year may 

9 be taken into account only if the taxpayer was 

10 in existence throughout the year. 

11 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE CENSUS TRACT.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

13 subparagraph (A), the term ‘eligible census 

14 tract’ means any population census tract 

15 which— 

16 ‘‘(I) is described in section 

17 45D(e), or 

18 ‘‘(II) is not an urban area. 

19 ‘‘(ii) URBAN AREA.—For purposes of 

20 this subparagraph, the term ‘urban area’ 

21 means a census tract (as defined by the 

22 Bureau of the Census) which, according to 

23 the most recent decennial census, has been 

24 designated as an urban area by the Sec25 retary of Commerce.’’. 


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•S 5254 IS

1 (c) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—Section 45F(b) of such 

2 Code is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) AGGREGATE LIMITATION.—The credit al5 lowable under subsection (a) for any taxable year 

6 shall not exceed $1,200,000. 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION WITH RESPECT TO QUALIFIED

8 CHILD CARE EXPENDITURES.—The aggregate 

9 amount of qualified child care expenditures which 

10 may be taken into account under this section for any 

11 taxable year shall not exceed $2,000,000.’’. 

12 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 SEC. 3. GUIDANCE REGARDING MULTI-EMPLOYER FACILI16 TIES. 

17 Section 45F of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub19 section: 

20 ‘‘(g) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue such 

21 guidance as may be necessary to carry out the purposes 

22 of this section, including guidance on the application of 

23 this section to multi-employer facilities.’’. 


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•S 5254 IS

1 SEC. 4. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

4 Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall establish a 

5 public awareness program to inform taxpayers about— 

6 (1) the availability of the credit for employer7 provided child care under section 45F of the Inter8 nal Revenue Code of 1986, and 

9 (2) filing procedures for such credit. 

10 (b) METHOD.—In carrying out this section, the Sec11 retary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall 

12 use appropriate means of communication to ensure aware13 ness by all taxpayers who are eligible for the credit allowed 

14 under section 45F of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

Æ 


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