II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3657 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to enhance the Child and 

Dependent Care Tax Credit and make the credit fully refundable for 

certain taxpayers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2024 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. REED, 

Mr. SCHATZ, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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 Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and make 

the credit fully refundable for certain taxpayers. 

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 and Dependent 

5 Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE 

2 TAX CREDIT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(a) of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERCENTAGE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para8 graph (1), the term ‘applicable percentage’ 

9 means 50 percent reduced (but not below the 

10 phaseout percentage) by 1 percentage point for 

11 each $2,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the 

12 taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the taxable 

13 year exceeds $125,000. 

14 ‘‘(B) PHASEOUT PERCENTAGE.—For pur15 poses of subparagraph (A), the term ‘phaseout 

16 percentage’ means 20 percent reduced (but not 

17 below zero) by 1 percentage point for each 

18 $2,000 (or fraction thereof) by which the tax19 payer’s adjusted gross income for the taxable 

20 year exceeds $400,000.’’. 

21 (b) INCREASE IN DOLLAR LIMIT ON AMOUNT CRED22 ITABLE.—Subsection (c) of section 21 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$3,000’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘$8,000’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘$6,000’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘$16,000’’. 

3 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR MARRIED COUPLES FILING

4 SEPARATE RETURNS.—Paragraph (2) of section 21(e) of 

5 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

6 as follows: 

7 ‘‘(2) MARRIED COUPLES FILING SEPARATE RE8 TURNS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of married 

10 individuals who do not file a joint return for the 

11 taxable year— 

12 ‘‘(i) the applicable percentage under 

13 subsection (a)(2) and the number of quali14 fying individuals and aggregate amount ex15 cludable under section 129 for purposes of 

16 subsection (c) shall be determined with re17 spect to each such individual as if the indi18 vidual had filed a joint return with the in19 dividual’s spouse, and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of the 

21 credits allowed under this section for such 

22 taxable year with respect to both spouses 

23 shall not exceed the amount which would 

24 have been allowed under this section if the 

25 individuals had filed a joint return. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

2 prescribe such regulations or other guidance as 

3 is necessary to carry out the purposes of this 

4 subsection.’’. 

5 (d) ADJUSTMENT FOR INFLATION.—Section 21 of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(i) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a calendar 

10 year beginning after 2024, the $125,000 amount in 

11 paragraph (2) of subsection (a) and the dollar 

12 amounts in subsection (c) shall each be increased by 

13 an amount equal to— 

14 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

15 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter16 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

17 year in which the taxable year begins, deter18 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2023’ for 

19 ‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 

20 thereof. 

21 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any dollar amount, after 

22 being increased under paragraph (1), is not a mul23 tiple of $100, such dollar amount shall be rounded 

24 to the next lowest multiple of $100.’’. 


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1 (e) CREDIT MADE REFUNDABLE.—Section 21(g) of 

2 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read 

3 as follows: 

4 ‘‘(g) CREDIT MADE REFUNDABLE FOR CERTAIN IN5 DIVIDUALS.—If the taxpayer (in the case of a joint return, 

6 either spouse) has a principal place of abode in the United 

7 States (determined as provided in section 32) for more 

8 than one-half of the taxable year, the credit allowed under 

9 subsection (a) shall be treated as a credit allowed under 

10 subpart C (and not allowed under this subpart).’’. 

11 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

13 December 31, 2023. 

Æ 


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