I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6231 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve and enhance 
the work opportunity tax credit, to encourage longer-service employment, 
and to modernize the credit to make it more effective as a hiring 
incentive for targeted workers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 20, 2025 
Mr. SMUCKER (for himself, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
BEYER, Mr. KUSTOFF, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Mr. MILLER of Ohio, and 
Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve 
and enhance the work opportunity tax credit, to encour-
age longer-service employment, and to modernize the 
credit to make it more effective as a hiring incentive 
for targeted workers, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Improve and Enhance 
the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. IMPROVING AND ENHANCING WORK OPPORTUNITY 
TAX CREDIT. 
(a) EXTENSION.—Section 51(c)(4) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘December 
31, 2025’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2030’’. 
(b) ENHANCEMENT OF CREDIT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘shall 
be equal to 40 percent’’ and all that follows and in-
serting the following: ‘‘shall be equal to the sum 
of— 
‘‘(1) 50 percent of so much of the qualified 
first-year wages with respect to each individual for 
such year as does not exceed $6,000, plus 
‘‘(2) in the case of individuals who have per-
formed at least 400 hours of service for the em-
ployer, 50 percent of so much of the qualified first- 
year wages with respect to each such individual for 
such year as exceeds $6,000, and does not exceed 
twice such dollar amount.’’. 
(2) INFLATION
ADJUSTMENT.—Section 51 of 
such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(l) COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any taxable 
year beginning after 2025, the $6,000 amount in 
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paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) and the 
$10,000 amount in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 
subsection (e)(1) shall be increased by an amount 
equal to— 
‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter-
mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 
year in which the taxable year begins, deter-
mined by substituting ‘calendar year 2024’ for 
‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) 
thereof. 
‘‘(2) ROUNDING.—Any increase determined 
under paragraph (1) shall be rounded to the nearest 
multiple of $100.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(A) LIMITATION ON WAGES TAKEN INTO 
ACCOUNT
FOR
CERTAIN
VETERANS.—Section 
51(b)(3) of such Code is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(3) INCREASED LIMITATION ON WAGES TAKEN 
INTO ACCOUNT FOR CERTAIN VETERANS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a quali-
fied veteran described in subparagraph (B), 
subsection (a) shall be applied by substituting 
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‘the applicable amount’ for ‘$6,000’ each place 
it appears. 
‘‘(B) APPLICABLE AMOUNT.—For purposes 
of this paragraph, the applicable amount is— 
‘‘(i) in the case of any individual who 
is a qualified veteran by reason of sub-
section (d)(3)(A)(ii)(I), 200 percent of the 
dollar amount in effect for the taxable year 
under subsection (a)(1), 
‘‘(ii) in the case of any individual who 
is a qualified veteran by reason of sub-
section (d)(3)(A)(iv), 250 percent of the 
dollar amount in effect for the taxable year 
under subsection (a)(1), and 
‘‘(iii) in the case of any individual who 
is a qualified veteran by reason of sub-
section (d)(3)(A)(ii)(II), 400 percent of the 
dollar amount in effect for the taxable year 
under subsection (a)(1).’’. 
(B) SUMMER
YOUTH
EMPLOYEES.—Sec-
tion 51(d)(7)(B) of such Code is amended— 
(i) by striking clause (ii), 
(ii) by striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of 
clause (i) and inserting a period, 
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(iii) by redesignating clause (i) (as so 
amended) as clause (v), and 
(iv) by inserting before such clause (v) 
(as so redesignated) the following new 
clauses: 
‘‘(i) in lieu of the amount determined 
under subsection (a), the amount of the 
work opportunity credit determined under 
this section for the taxable year shall be 
equal to 40 percent of the qualified first- 
year wages for such year, 
‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual de-
scribed in subsection (i)(3)(A), clause (i) 
shall be applied by substituting ‘25 per-
cent’ for ‘40 percent’, 
‘‘(iii) in the case of an individual de-
scribed in subsection (i)(3)(B), no wages 
shall be taken into account under clause 
(i), 
‘‘(iv) the amount of qualified first- 
year wages which may be taken into ac-
count with respect to such individual shall 
not exceed 50 percent of the dollar amount 
in effect for the taxable year under sub-
section (a)(1), and’’. 
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(C) LONG-TERM FAMILY ASSISTANCE RE-
CIPIENTS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(e)(1) of 
such Code is amended by striking ‘‘family 
assistance recipient—’’ and all that follows 
and inserting the following: ‘‘family assist-
ance recipient, in lieu of subsection (a), the 
amount of the work opportunity credit de-
termined under this section for the taxable 
year shall be equal to— 
‘‘(A) 40 percent of so much of the quali-
fied first-year wages with respect to such indi-
vidual for such year as does not exceed 
$10,000, and 
‘‘(B) 50 percent of so much of the quali-
fied second-year wages with respect to such in-
dividual for such year as does not exceed 
$10,000.’’. 
(ii) 
CLERICAL
AMENDMENT.—The 
heading for section 51(e) of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘CREDIT FOR SEC-
OND-YEAR WAGES’’ and inserting ‘‘SPE-
CIAL RULES FOR DETERMINING CREDIT’’. 
(D) 
AGRICULTURAL
AND
RAILWAY 
LABOR.— 
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(i) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(h)(1) of 
such Code is amended— 
(I) by striking ‘‘$6,000’’ in sub-
paragraph (A) and inserting ‘‘the dol-
lar amount in effect for the taxable 
year under subsection (a)(1)’’, and 
(II) 
by 
striking 
‘‘$500 
per 
month’’ in subparagraph (B) and in-
serting ‘‘1⁄12 of the dollar amount in 
effect under subsection (a)(1) per 
month’’. 
(ii) RELATED
CONFORMING
AMEND-
MENTS.—Section 51(e)(3) of such Code is 
amended by striking subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) such subparagraph (A) shall be ap-
plied by substituting ‘the dollar amount in ef-
fect under subsection (e)(1)’ for ‘the dollar 
amount in effect under subsection (a)(1)’, and 
‘‘(B) such subparagraph (B) shall be ap-
plied by substituting one ‘1⁄12 of the dollar 
amount in effect under subsection (e)(1)’ for 
‘1⁄12 of the dollar amount in effect under sub-
section (a)(1)’.’’. 
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(E) INDIVIDUALS NOT MEETING MINIMUM 
EMPLOYMENT PERIODS.— 
(i) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec-
tion 51(i)(3) of such Code are each amend-
ed by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’. 
(ii) Section 51(i)(3)(A) of such Code 
is amended by striking ‘‘40 percent’’ and 
inserting ‘‘50 percent’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after December 31, 2025. 
SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF AGE LIMIT FOR QUALIFIED SUPPLE-
MENTAL NUTRITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM 
BENEFITS RECIPIENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(d)(8)(A)(i) of the In-
ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘but 
not age 40’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after December 31, 2025. 
SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY OF SPOUSES OF MILITARY PERSONNEL 
FOR THE WORK OPPORTUNITY CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 51(d)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
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end of subparagraph (I), by striking the period at the end 
of subparagraph (J) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding 
at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(K) a qualified military spouse.’’. 
(b) QUALIFIED MILITARY SPOUSE.—Subsection (d) 
of section 51 of such Code is amended by adding at the 
end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(16) QUALIFIED
MILITARY
SPOUSE.—The 
term ‘qualified military spouse’ means any individual 
who is certified by the designated local agency as 
being (as of the hiring date) a spouse of a member 
of the Armed Forces of the United States.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after 
the date of the enactment of this Act to individuals who 
begin work for the employer after such date. 
SEC. 5. PROMOTION OF TARGETED GROUP MEMBER HIR-
ING TO CERTAIN INDUSTRIES. 
The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Com-
merce, the Secretary of Labor, and the Administrator of 
the Small Business Administration (or their respective del-
egates), in consultation with each other and consistent 
with applicable law, shall promote the hiring of members 
of a targeted group (as defined in section 51(d) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986) to business leaders across 
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critical industry sectors, including manufacturing, infra-
structure, energy, health care, and construction. 
Æ 
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