I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2540 

To establish a universal child assistance program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2023 

Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To establish a universal child assistance program, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘End Child Poverty 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNIVERSAL CHILD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis9 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Social Security. 


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1 (2) DEPUTY COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Dep2 uty Commissioner’’ means the Deputy Commissioner 

3 of the Office of Universal Child Assistance. 

4 (3) QUALIFYING CHILD.—The term ‘‘qualifying 

5 child’’ means, with respect to a month, an individual 

6 who— 

7 (A) resides in the United States; 

8 (B) is— 

9 (i) a citizen or national of the United 

10 States; or 

11 (ii) a qualified alien (as defined in 

12 section 431 of the Personal Responsibility 

13 and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 

14 of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1641)); and 

15 (C) is less than 19 years old on the last 

16 day of such month. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF UNIVERSAL

18 CHILD ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established within 

20 the Social Security Administration an office to be 

21 known as the Office of Universal Child Assistance. 

22 The Office shall be headed by a Deputy Commis23 sioner who shall be appointed by the Commissioner 

24 of Social Security. 


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1 (2) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEPUTY COMMIS2 SIONER.—The Commissioner, acting through the 

3 Deputy Commissioner, shall be responsible for— 

4 (A) hiring personnel and making employ5 ment decisions with regard to such personnel; 

6 (B) issuing such regulations as may be 

7 necessary to carry out the purposes of this sec8 tion; 

9 (C) entering into cooperative agreements 

10 with other agencies and departments to ensure 

11 the efficiency of the administration of the pro12 gram; 

13 (D) determining eligibility for child assist14 ance payments under subsection (c); 

15 (E) making timely child assistance pay16 ments to qualified children in accordance with 

17 this section; 

18 (F) establishing and maintaining a system 

19 of records relating to the administration of this 

20 section; 

21 (G) preventing fraud and abuse relating to 

22 child assistance payments; 

23 (H) providing information on request re24 garding eligibility requirements, the application 


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1 process, payment amounts, and limitations on 

2 payments; and 

3 (I) tailoring culturally and linguistically 

4 competent education and outreach toward in5 creasing utilization rates of payments under 

6 this section. 

7 (3) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Commis8 sioner shall make available to the Deputy Commis9 sioner such data as the Commissioner determines 

10 necessary to enable the Deputy Commissioner to ef11 fectively carry out the responsibilities described in 

12 paragraph (2). 

13 (c) CHILD ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—For every month beginning 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis16 sioner shall pay to each qualified child who has in 

17 effect an application approved under subsection (d) 

18 a child assistance payment in an amount equal to 

19 the child assistance amount for the month (as deter20 mined under paragraph (2)). 

21 (2) CHILD ASSISTANCE AMOUNT.—For pur22 poses of paragraph (1), the child assistance amount 

for a month shall be an amount equal to 1 23 ⁄12 of the 

24 excess of— 


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1 (A) the annual poverty guideline for the 

2 calendar year preceding the calendar year in 

3 which such month occurs (as updated annually 

4 in the Federal Register by the Department of 

5 Health and Human Services under the author6 ity of section 673(2) of the Omnibus Budget 

7 Reconciliation Act of 1981) as applicable to a 

8 two-person household, over 

9 (B) the annual poverty guideline for such 

10 preceding calendar year applicable to a single 

11 individual. 

12 (3) REPRESENTATIVE PAYEES.—Section 205(j) 

13 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)) shall 

14 apply to the payment of child assistance payments 

15 under this section in the same manner as such sec16 tion 205(j) applies to the payment of benefits under 

17 title II of such Act. 

18 (4) PENALTIES.—Section 208 of the Social Se19 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 408) shall apply with respect 

20 to child assistance payments under this section in 

21 the same manner as such section 208 applies with 

22 respect to monthly insurance benefits under title II 

23 of such Act. 

24 (d) APPLICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—No child assistance payment 

2 shall be made to an individual unless the Commis3 sioner has approved an application for such payment 

4 in accordance with the requirements of this para5 graph. 

6 (2) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.—An indi7 vidual applying for a child assistance payment as (or 

8 on behalf of) a qualifying child under this section 

9 shall provide the Commissioner with an application 

10 in such form and manner as the Commissioner shall 

11 require, and such application shall include— 

12 (A) the name, date of birth, and social se13 curity number or taxpayer identification num14 ber of the qualifying child; and 

15 (B) such other information as the Commis16 sioner deems necessary. 

17 (3) SIMULTANEOUS APPLICATION.—The Com18 missioner shall treat an application for a social secu19 rity account number for a qualifying child as an ap20 plication for a child assistance payment under this 

21 section, unless the applicant affirmatively indicates 

22 on such application an intent to opt out of such 

23 child assistance payments. 

24 (4) DEEMED APPLICATIONS.—In the case of 

25 any qualifying child identified to the Commissioner 


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1 under the data sharing procedures described in sec2 tion 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

3 1986 (as amended by subsection (e)) who has not 

4 otherwise submitted an application for child assist5 ance payments under this section, the Commissioner 

6 shall treat such qualifying child as having so applied, 

7 unless the applicant affirmatively indicates to the 

8 Commissioner, under such procedures as the Com9 missioner may establish, an intent to opt out of such 

10 child assistance payments. 

11 (5) TERM OF APPLICATION.—The Commis12 sioner may provide that an approval of an individ13 ual’s application for a child assistance payment 

14 under this subsection shall expire after a specified 

15 number of months, after which the individual shall 

16 not be eligible for a child assistance payment until 

17 a new application is approved under this subsection. 

18 (e) IRS DATA SHARING WITH COMMISSIONER OF

19 SOCIAL SECURITY.—Section 6103(l) of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

21 following new paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

23 TO SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FOR PUR24 POSES OF CHILD ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS.—The Sec25 retary shall, upon written request from the CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2540.IH H2540

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1 sioner of Social Security, disclose to the Commis2 sioner any available taxpayer identity information 

3 from the individual master files of the Internal Rev4 enue Service that the Commissioner deems relevant 

5 to identifying children of taxpayers or children who 

6 are taxpayers who qualify for a child assistance pay7 ment under section 2(c) of the End Child Poverty 

8 Act, including information relating to— 

9 ‘‘(A) citizenship status of a child, 

10 ‘‘(B) age of a child, and 

11 ‘‘(C) country of residence of a child.’’. 

12 (f) INCOME DISREGARD.—A child assistance pay13 ment made under this section shall not be taken into ac14 count as income and shall not be taken into account as 

15 resources for purposes of determining the eligibility of 

16 such individual or any other individual for benefits or as17 sistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance, 

18 under any Federal program or under any State or local 

19 program financed in whole or in part with Federal funds. 

20 (g) APPROPRIATION.—There are appropriated to the 

21 Commissioner for fiscal year 2023 and each subsequent 

22 fiscal year such sums as are necessary to carry out this 

23 section. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CHILD TAX CREDIT AND EARNED IN2 COME TAX CREDIT. 

3 (a) CHILD TAX CREDIT.—Section 24 of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is hereby repealed. 

5 (b) EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT.—Section 32 of 

6 such Code is hereby repealed. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) The table of sections for subpart A of part 

9 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of subtitle A of 

10 such Code is amended by striking the item relating 

11 to section 24. 

12 (2) The table of sections for subpart C of such 

13 part is amended by striking the item relating to sec14 tion 32. 

15 (3) Section 45R(f)(3)(B) of the Internal Rev16 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ‘‘(as in 

17 effect on the day before the date of enactment of the 

18 Universal Child Assistance Act of 2018)’’ after ‘‘sec19 tion 24(d)(2)(C)’’. 

20 (4) Section 25A(g)(2)(B) of such Code is 

21 amended by striking ‘‘, 32’’. 

22 (5) Section 86(f) of such Code is amended by 

23 striking paragraph (2). 

24 (6) Section 129(e)(2) of such Code is amended 

25 to read as follows: 

26 ‘‘(2) EARNED INCOME.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) The term ‘earned income’— 

2 ‘‘(i) means— 

3 ‘‘(I) wages, salaries, tips, and 

4 other employee compensation, but 

5 only if such amounts are includible in 

6 gross income for the taxable year, 

7 plus 

8 ‘‘(II) the amount of the tax9 payer’s net earnings from self-employ10 ment for the taxable year (within the 

11 meaning of section 1402(a)), but such 

12 net earnings shall be determined with 

13 regard to the deduction allowed to the 

14 taxpayer by section 164(f), and 

15 ‘‘(ii) does not include any amounts 

16 paid or incurred by an employer for de17 pendent care assistance to an employee. 

18 ‘‘(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A)— 

19 ‘‘(i) the earned income of an indi20 vidual shall be computed without regard to 

21 any community property laws, 

22 ‘‘(ii) no amount received as a pension 

23 or annuity shall be taken into account, 

24 ‘‘(iii) no amount to which section 

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1 resident alien individuals not connected 

2 with United States business) shall be taken 

3 into account, 

4 ‘‘(iv) no amount received for services 

5 provided by an individual while the indi6 vidual is an inmate at a penal institution 

7 shall be taken into account, 

8 ‘‘(v) no amount described in subpara9 graph (A) received for service performed in 

10 work activities as defined in paragraph (4) 

11 or (7) of section 407(d) of the Social Secu12 rity Act to which the taxpayer is assigned 

13 under any State program under part A of 

14 title IV of such Act shall be taken into ac15 count, but only to the extent such amount 

16 is subsidized under such State program, 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(vi) a taxpayer may elect to treat 

19 amounts excluded from gross income by 

20 reason of section 112 as earned income.’’. 

21 (7) Section 135(d)(1)(B) of such Code is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘32,’’. 

23 (8) Section 152(f)(6)(B) of such Code is 

24 amended— 


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1 (A) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘, and’’ and 

2 inserting a period, 

3 (B) by striking clauses (ii) and (iv), and 

4 (C) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 

5 (ii). 

6 (9) Section 501 of such Code is amended— 

7 (A) in subsection (c)(26), by striking ‘‘(as 

8 defined in section 24(c)’’ and inserting ‘‘(as de9 fined in subsection (g))’’, and 

10 (B) by amending subsection (g) to read as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL.—For purposes of sub14 section (c)(5), the term ‘agricultural’ includes the 

15 art or science of cultivating land, harvesting crops or 

16 aquatic resources, or raising livestock. 

17 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING CHILD.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of sub19 section (c)(26), the term ‘qualifying child’ 

20 means a qualifying child of the taxpayer (as de21 fined in section 152(c)) who has not attained 

22 age 17. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN NONCITI24 ZENS.—The term ‘qualifying child’ shall not in25 clude any individual who would not be a deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:42 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2540.IH H2540

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1 pendent if subparagraph (A) of section 

2 152(b)(3) were applied without regard to all 

3 that follows ‘resident of the United States’.’’. 

4 (10) Section 995(f)(2)(C) of such Code is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘32,’’. 

6 (11) Section 3402(f)(1) of such Code is amend7 ed by striking subparagraph (C) and by redesig8 nating subparagraphs (D) through (F) as subpara9 graphs (C) through (E), respectively. 

10 (12) Section 4293 of such Code is amended by 

11 striking ‘‘chapter 32 (other than the taxes imposed 

12 by sections 4064 and 4121)’’. 

13 (13) Section 6211(b)(4)(A) of such Code is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘24(d),’’ and ‘‘32,’’. 

15 (14) Section 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amend16 ed— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (L), by striking ‘‘, 24, 

18 32,’’, 

19 (B) by striking subparagraphs (F), (G), 

20 (I), (K), (M), and (P) and by redesignating 

21 subparagraphs (H), (J), (L), (N), (O), and (Q) 

22 as subparagraphs (F), (G), (H), (I), (J), and 

23 (K), respectively, and 

24 (C) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub25 paragraph (J). 


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1 (15) Section 6402 of such code is amended by 

2 striking subsection (m) and by redesignating sub3 section (n) as subsection (m). 

4 (16) Section 6695(g)(2) of such Code is amend5 ed by striking ‘‘24,’’ and ‘‘ or 32,’’. 

6 (17) Section 1613(a) of the Social Security Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 1382b(a)) is amended by striking para8 graph (11). 

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

10 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

11 December 31, 2022. 

12 SEC. 4. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR ADULT DEPEND13 ENTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub15 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

16 1986 is amended by inserting before section 33 the fol17 lowing new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 32A. ADULT DEPENDENT CREDIT. 

19 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli20 gible individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

21 the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an 

22 amount equal to $600 for each qualifying dependent of 

23 the taxpayer. 

24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible indi25 vidual’ means any individual if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) such individual is not a dependent for 

2 whom a deduction is allowable under section 151 to 

3 another taxpayer for any taxable year beginning in 

4 the same calendar year as such taxable year, and 

5 ‘‘(2) such individual is not a nonresident alien 

6 during such taxable year. 

7 ‘‘(c) QUALIFYING DEPENDENT.—The term ‘quali8 fying dependent’ means a dependent (as defined in section 

9 152) who is over the age of 18. 

10 ‘‘(d) IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REQUIREMENT.—A 

11 qualifying dependent shall not be taken into account under 

12 subsection (a) unless the taxpayer includes the name, age, 

13 and TIN of the qualifying child on the return of tax for 

14 the taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

17 year beginning after 2023, the dollar amount in sub18 section (a) shall be increased by an amount equal 

19 to— 

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

21 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter22 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

23 year in which the taxable year begins, deter24 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2022’ for 


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

2 thereof. 

3 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

4 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $0.01, such 

5 amount shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple 

6 of $0.01.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec8 tions for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

9 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

10 inserting after the item relating to section 32 the following 

11 new item: 

‘‘Sec. 32A. Adult dependent credit.’’ 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

14 December 31, 2022. 

15 SEC. 5. REFUNDABLE TAX CREDIT FOR ADULTS AND FAMI16 LIES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub18 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

19 1986, as amended by section 4, is amended by inserting 

20 after section 32A the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 32B. CREDIT FOR ADULTS AND FAMILIES. 

22 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—In the case of an eli23 gible individual, there shall be allowed as a credit against 

24 the tax imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year $600 

25 ($1200 in the case of a joint return). 


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1 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION BASED ON ADJUSTED GROSS IN2 COME.—The amount of the credit allowed by subsection 

3 (a) shall be reduced by 5 percent of so much of the tax4 payer’s adjusted gross income as exceeds— 

5 ‘‘(1) $40,000 in the case of a joint return, and 

6 ‘‘(2) $20,000 in any other case. 

7 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘eligible indi8 vidual’ means any individual if— 

9 ‘‘(1) such individual (or, if the individual is 

10 married, either the individual or the individual’s 

11 spouse) has attained age 19 but not attained age 65 

12 before the close of the taxable year, 

13 ‘‘(2) such individual is not a dependent for 

14 whom a deduction is allowable under section 151 to 

15 another taxpayer for any taxable year beginning in 

16 the same calendar year as such taxable year, and 

17 ‘‘(3) such individual is not a nonresident alien 

18 during such taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(d) IDENTIFICATION NUMBER REQUIREMENT.—No 

20 credit shall be allowed under this section to an eligible in21 dividual who does not include on the return of tax for the 

22 taxable year— 

23 ‘‘(1) such individual’s taxpayer identification 

24 number, and 


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1 ‘‘(2) if the individual is married (within the 

2 meaning of section 7703), the taxpayer identification 

3 number of such individual’s spouse. 

4 ‘‘(e) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 

6 year beginning after 2023, the dollar amounts in 

7 subsections (a) and (b) shall be increased by an 

8 amount equal to— 

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

10 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter11 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

12 year in which the taxable year begins, deter13 mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2022’ for 

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

15 thereof. 

16 ‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—If any amount as adjusted 

17 under paragraph (1) is not a multiple of $0.01, such 

18 amount shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple 

19 of $0.01.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec21 tions for subpart C of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 

22 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by 

23 section 4, is amended by inserting after the item relating 

24 to section 32A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 32B. Credit for adults and families.’’. 


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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2022. 

Æ 


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