I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2334 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to require individuals to 
include their social security numbers on the income tax return as a 
condition of claiming the refundable portion of the child tax credit, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2015 
Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas 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 require 
individuals to include their social security numbers on 
the income tax return as a condition of claiming the 
refundable portion of the child tax credit, 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 ‘‘Refundable Child Tax 
Credit Eligibility Verification Reform Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER REQUIRED TO CLAIM 
THE REFUNDABLE PORTION OF THE CHILD 
TAX CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 24(d) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph: 
‘‘(5) IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENT WITH RE-
SPECT TO TAXPAYER AND QUALIFYING CHILD.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 
not apply to any taxpayer for any taxable year 
unless the taxpayer includes on the return of 
tax for such taxable year the taxpayer’s social 
security number. 
‘‘(B) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of a 
joint return, the requirement of subparagraph 
(A) shall be treated as met if the social security 
number of either spouse is included on such re-
turn. 
‘‘(C) 
LIMITATION.—Subparagraph 
(A) 
shall not apply to the extent the tentative min-
imum tax (as defined in section 55(b)(1)(A)) 
exceeds the credit allowed under section 32.’’. 
(b) OMISSIONS TREATED
AS MATHEMATICAL
OR 
CLERICAL ERROR.—Section 6213(g)(2)(I) of such Code 
is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(I) an omission of a correct social secu-
rity number required under section 24(d)(5) 
(relating to refundable portion of child tax cred-
it), or a correct TIN under section 24(e) (relat-
ing to child tax credit), to be included on a re-
turn,’’. 
(c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 24(e) of 
such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘WITH RESPECT TO 
QUALIFYING CHILDREN’’ after ‘‘IDENTIFICATION RE-
QUIREMENT’’ in the heading thereof. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2015. 
SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS ON TAXPAYERS WHO IMPROPERLY 
CLAIMED REFUNDABLE PORTION OF THE 
CHILD TAX CREDIT IN PRIOR YEAR. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 24(d) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986, as amended by this Act, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(6) RESTRICTIONS ON TAXPAYERS WHO IM-
PROPERLY CLAIMED CREDIT IN PRIOR YEAR.— 
‘‘(A) TAXPAYERS MAKING PRIOR FRAUDU-
LENT OR RECKLESS CLAIMS.— 
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‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No credit shall be 
allowed under this subsection for any tax-
able year in the disallowance period. 
‘‘(ii) DISALLOWANCE
PERIOD.—For 
purposes of clause (i), the disallowance pe-
riod is— 
‘‘(I) the period of 10 taxable 
years after the most recent taxable 
year for which there was a final deter-
mination that the taxpayer’s claim of 
credit under this subsection was due 
to fraud, and 
‘‘(II) the period of 2 taxable 
years after the most recent taxable 
year for which there was a final deter-
mination that the taxpayer’s claim of 
credit under this subsection was due 
to reckless or intentional disregard of 
rules and regulations (but not due to 
fraud). 
‘‘(B) 
TAXPAYERS
MAKING
IMPROPER 
PRIOR CLAIMS.—In the case of a taxpayer who 
is denied credit under this subsection for any 
taxable year as a result of the deficiency proce-
dures under subchapter B of chapter 63, no 
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credit shall be allowed under this subsection for 
any subsequent taxable year unless the taxpayer 
provides such information as the Secretary may 
require to demonstrate eligibility for such cred-
it.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
December 31, 2015. 
SEC. 4. CHECKLIST FOR PAID PREPARERS TO VERIFY ELI-
GIBILITY FOR REFUNDABLE PORTION OF 
THE CHILD TAX CREDIT; PENALTY FOR FAIL-
URE TO MEET DUE DILIGENCE REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury (or 
the Secretary’s delegate) shall prescribe a form (similar 
to Form 8867) which is required to be completed by paid 
income tax return preparers in connection with claims for 
the refundable portion of the child tax credit under section 
24(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
(b) PENALTY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 6695 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 
subsection (h) as subsection (i) and by inserting 
after subsection (g) following new subsection: 
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‘‘(h) FAILURE TO BE DILIGENT IN DETERMINING 
ELIGIBILITY FOR REFUNDABLE PORTION OF CHILD TAX 
CREDIT.—Any person who is a tax return preparer with 
respect to any return or claim for refund who fails to com-
ply with due diligence requirements imposed by the Sec-
retary by regulations with respect to determining eligi-
bility for, or the amount of, the credit allowable by section 
24(d) shall pay a penalty of $500 for each such failure.’’. 
(2) 
INFLATION
ADJUSTMENT.—Section 
6695(h)(1) of such Code, as so redesignated, is 
amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘and (g)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(g), and (h)’’, and 
(B) by striking ‘‘determined by sub-
stituting’’ and all that follows and inserting the 
following: ‘‘determined by substituting for ‘cal-
endar year 1992’ in subparagraph (B) there-
of— 
‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 
(B), ‘calendar year 2013’, and 
‘‘(B) in the case of the dollar amount 
under subsection (h), ‘calendar year 2015’.’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), the amendments made by this section 
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shall apply to taxable years beginning after Decem-
ber 31, 2015. 
(2) SUBSECTION
(b)(2).—The amendments 
made by subsection (b)(2) shall apply to returns or 
claims for refund filed in a calendar year beginning 
after December 31, 2016. 
Æ 
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