I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4954 
To amend the Internal Revenue Act of 1986 to strengthen the earned income 
tax credit and expand eligibility for childless individuals, homeless youth, 
and qualified foster youth. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 31, 2019 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Act of 1986 to strengthen 
the earned income tax credit and expand eligibility for 
childless individuals, homeless youth, and qualified foster 
youth. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foster Opportunity 
EITC Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. STRENGTHENING THE EARNED INCOME TAX CRED-
IT. 
(a) INCREASED CREDIT FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH NO 
QUALIFYING CHILDREN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The table in subparagraph 
(A) of section 32(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘$4,220’’ in the second col-
umn of the third row and inserting ‘‘$10,180’’, 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘$5,280’’ in the third col-
umn of the third row and inserting ‘‘$11,380’’. 
(2) INFLATION ADJUSTMENTS.—Subparagraph 
(B) of section 32(j)(1) of such Code is amended— 
(A) in clause (i)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘(except as provided 
in clause (iii))’’ after ‘‘(b)(2)(A)’’, and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end, 
(B) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause 
(iii), and 
(C) by inserting after clause (i) the fol-
lowing new clause: 
‘‘(ii) in the case of the $10,180 and 
$11,380 amounts in the table in subsection 
(b)(2)(A), ‘calendar year 2017’ for ‘cal-
endar year 1992’, and’’. 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), the term ‘home-
less youth’ means— 
‘‘(I) an unaccompanied youth 
who has not attained age 24 and who 
is a homeless child or youth (as de-
fined in section 725 of the McKinney- 
Vento Homeless Assistance Act), or 
‘‘(II) an individual who is deter-
mined by a specified official to be un-
accompanied, at risk of homelessness, 
and self-supporting. 
‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION
FOR
HOMELESS 
YOUTH.—No credit shall be allowed under 
this section by reason of clause (i) to any 
individual unless such individual attests on 
the return of tax for the taxable year that 
the individual is a homeless youth and that 
no other taxpayer is entitled to claim such 
individual as a qualifying child for pur-
poses of this section or section 24 for the 
taxable year. The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the National Taxpayer Advocate 
and national homeless youth advocates, 
shall issue regulations— 
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‘‘(I) determining the information 
on relevant tax forms or documenta-
tion necessary to demonstrate home-
less youth status in the case of an 
audit of the return, and 
‘‘(II) providing that a docu-
mented phone call with or a written 
statement from a specified official 
shall be treated as sufficient to verify 
the status of an individual as a home-
less youth. 
‘‘(iii) SPECIFIED OFFICIAL.—For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘spec-
ified official’ means— 
‘‘(I) a local educational agency 
homeless liaison designated pursuant 
to section 722(g)(1)(J)(ii) of the 
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 
Act (or a designee of such liaison), 
‘‘(II) the director of an emer-
gency or transitional shelter street 
outreach program, homeless youth 
drop-in center, or other program serv-
ing homeless youth (or a designee of 
such director), 
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‘‘(III) the director of a Federal 
TRIO program or a Gaining Early 
Awareness and Readiness for Under-
graduate program under chapter 1 or 
2 of subpart 2 of part A of title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (or 
a designee of such director), or 
‘‘(IV) a financial aid adminis-
trator (within the meaning of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965) (or a 
designee of such administrator). 
‘‘(H) QUALIFIED FOSTER YOUTH.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of 
subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), the term ‘quali-
fied foster youth’ means an individual who 
was in foster care on or after the date that 
such individual attained age 14, if such 
care was under the supervision or adminis-
tration of a State or tribal agency admin-
istering (or eligible to administer) a plan 
under part B or part E of the Social Secu-
rity Act (without regard to whether Fed-
eral assistance was provided with respect 
to such child under such part E). 
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‘‘(ii) VERIFICATION
OF
QUALIFIED 
FOSTER
YOUTH.—The Secretary in con-
sultation with the National Taxpayer Ad-
vocate and the Children’s Bureau, Admin-
istration for Children and Families, shall 
issue regulations determining information 
for relevant tax forms, providing criteria 
for verifying an individual as a qualified 
foster youth during any transition period 
between the date of the enactment of this 
subparagraph and the establishment of an 
operational data reporting system de-
scribed in section 6050Z(a) if such indi-
vidual is not listed in the verification data-
base described in 6050Z(a), or in the case 
of an audit of the return. The Secretary 
shall consider the use for such purposes of 
court or official State documentation, 
verification from entities such as a child 
welfare agency, case worker, Court Ap-
pointed Special Advocate, attorney, guard-
ian ad litem, Federal TRIO or a Gaining 
Early Awareness and Readiness for Under-
graduate Program under chapter 1 of sub-
part 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher 
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Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 
11 et seq.) or other recognized State, coun-
ty, or tribal authority, and verification 
through the John H. Chafee Foster Care 
Program for Successful Transition to 
Adulthood under section 477 of the Social 
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 677). During any 
transition period between the enactment of 
this subparagraph and the establishment 
of an operational data reporting system de-
scribed in section 6050Z(a), no credit shall 
be allowed under this section by reason of 
clause (i) to any individual unless such in-
dividual attests on the return of tax for the 
taxable year that the individual is a quali-
fied foster youth and that no other tax-
payer is entitled to claim such individual 
as a qualified child for purposes of this 
section or section 24 for the taxable year. 
In the situation that an adult can claim a 
qualified foster youth for purposes of this 
section or section 24, the Secretary shall 
develop a form to indicate that the adult 
will not claim the qualified foster youth for 
the taxable year.’’. 
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(C) RETURNS
RELATING
TO
YOUTH
IN 
FOSTER CARE.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Subpart B of part 
III of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such 
Code is amended by inserting after section 
6050Y the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 6050Z. RETURNS RELATING TO YOUTH IN FOSTER 
CARE. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENT OF REPORTING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any State, local, or tribal 
agency providing foster care under a plan approved 
under part B or E of title IV of the Social Security 
Act shall make a return, at such times as the Sec-
retary may prescribe, described in subsection (b) 
with respect to any individual under the placement 
and responsibility of such State, locality, or tribe on 
or after the date that such individual attained age 
14. 
‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT OF DATA REPORTING SYS-
TEM.—The Secretary shall work with the Children’s 
Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, 
to develop a data reporting system which satisfies 
the return requirements of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) SINGLE RETURN.—Except as provided by 
the Secretary, a State, local, or tribal agency de-
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scribed in paragraph (1) which has made a return 
for an individual described in such paragraph shall 
not be required to make a return for such individual 
for any subsequent calendar year. 
‘‘(b) FORM AND MANNER OF RETURNS.—A return 
is described in this subsection if such return— 
‘‘(1) is in such form as the Secretary may pre-
scribe, and 
‘‘(2) contains, with respect to each individual 
described in subsection (a)(1)— 
‘‘(A) the name, date of birth, and TIN of 
such individual, and 
‘‘(B) such other information as the Sec-
retary may prescribe in consultation with the 
Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children 
and Families. 
‘‘(c) STATEMENT TO BE FURNISHED TO INDIVID-
UALS WITH RESPECT TO WHOM INFORMATION IS RE-
QUIRED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Every person required to 
make a return under subsection (a) shall furnish to 
each person whose name is required to be set forth 
in such return a written statement showing— 
‘‘(A) the name and address of the person 
required to make such return and the phone 
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number of the information contact for such per-
son, and 
‘‘(B) the information required to be shown 
on the return with respect to such individual. 
‘‘(2) DATE.—The written statement required 
under paragraph (1) shall be furnished on or before 
January 31 of the year following the calendar year 
for which the return under subsection (a) is required 
to be made.’’. 
(ii) ASSESSABLE
PENALTIES.—Sub-
paragraph (B) of section 6724(d)(1) of 
such Code is amended— 
(I) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of 
clause (xxv), 
(II) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end 
of clause (xxvi) and inserting ‘‘or’’, 
and 
(III) by inserting after clause 
(xxvi) the following new clause: 
‘‘(xxvii) section 6050Z (relating to re-
turns relating to youth in foster care),’’. 
(iii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 
table of sections for subpart B of part III 
of subchapter A of chapter 61 of such 
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Code is amended by adding at the end the 
following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 6050Z. Returns relating to youth in foster care.’’. 
(d) ELIGIBILITY
FOR WORKING HOMELESS
AND 
FORMER FOSTER YOUTH WHO ARE FULL-TIME STU-
DENTS.—Subparagraph (B) of section 32(c)(1) of such 
Code is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The 
preceding sentence shall not apply to— 
‘‘(1) a homeless youth (as defined in subpara-
graph (G)), or 
‘‘(2) a qualified foster youth (as defined in sub-
paragraph (H)), 
who is a student (as defined in section 152(f)(2)) for the 
taxable year.’’. 
(e) INFORMATION RETURN MATCHING.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s delegate) 
shall develop and implement procedures for checking an 
individual’s claim for the credit under section 32 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 against claims by other 
taxpayers for tax credits relating to higher education with 
respect to dependent college students. 
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2018. 
Æ 
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