Title: Earned Income and Child Tax Credits Outreach Act of 2020
Policy area: Taxation

Summary:
Earned Income and Child Tax Credits Outreach Act of 2020
This bill directs the Department of the Treasury, in January of 2021 and January of 2022, to carry out a public outreach program to inform individual taxpayers of their potential eligibility for the earned income and child tax credits.
The Inspector General for Tax Administration of Treasury must study the outreach program and make recommendations for improving it.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7551 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7551

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct outreach to inform 
   certain individuals of their potential eligibility for the Earned 
  Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2020

 Ms. Moore (for herself, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Norton, 
 Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, 
 Mr. Richmond, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mrs. Carolyn 
  B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Horsford, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Doggett, Mrs. 
  Watson Coleman, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Danny K. 
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Suozzi, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Ms. 
 Jackson Lee, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Hastings, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Kind, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. 
   Carson of Indiana, Mr. Ryan, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. 
  Schneider) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct outreach to inform 
   certain individuals of their potential eligibility for the Earned 
  Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Earned Income and Child Tax Credits 
Outreach Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. OUTREACH TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS REGARDING THE EARNED INCOME TAX 
              CREDIT AND THE CHILD TAX CREDIT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than January 31, 2021, and again before 
January 31, 2022, the Secretary of the Treasury shall carry out a 
program of public outreach, including on the internet and through 
mailed notices, to inform identified individuals of their potential 
eligibility for the earned income tax credit under section 32 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the child tax credit under section 24 
of such Code.
    (b) Identified Individuals.--The term ``identified individuals'' 
means individuals who used the non-filer portal to provide their 
identifying information and receive recovery rebate payments.
    (c) Non-Filer Portal.--The term ``non-filer portal'' means the 
electronic portal established by the Secretary of the Treasury for the 
purpose of making payments under section 6428 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 to individuals who did not file a return of tax for 2018 
or 2019.
    (d) Notice Contents.--Mailed notices sent to identified individuals 
under subsection (a) shall provide--
            (1) a description of the earned income tax credit and the 
        qualifications for receiving such credit,
            (2) a description of the child tax credit and the 
        qualifications for receiving such credit,
            (3) information on the availability of, and eligibility 
        requirements for receiving, advice and assistance from 
        qualified return preparation programs as defined in section 
        7526A(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 
        information regarding how to locate and contact such programs, 
        and
            (4) information on the availability of, and eligibility 
        requirements for receiving, advice and assistance from 
        organizations that provide tax counseling for the elderly 
        pursuant to a cooperative agreement with the Internal Revenue 
        Service under section 163 of the Revenue Act of 1978 (Public 
        Law 95-600), and information regarding how to locate and 
        contact such organizations.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVENESS STUDY.

    (a) Study.--The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
shall conduct a study to--
            (1) evaluate the outreach conducted under section 2(a), 
        including--
                    (A) a description of communications the Internal 
                Revenue Service issued,
                    (B) the date the Internal Revenue Service issued 
                communications on the internet and the date mailed 
                notices were sent,
                    (C) whether the information provided on the 
                internet and in mailed notices adequately described the 
                earned income tax credit and the child tax credit and 
                the qualifications for receiving such credits,
                    (D) in what languages such communications were 
                offered,
                    (E) the number of filers who used the non-filer 
                portal to properly claim recovery rebate payments,
                    (F) the number of mailed notices that were returned 
                to the IRS as undeliverable each year, and
                    (G) whether, in year 2021, the Secretary of the 
                Treasury developed and applied performance measurement 
                standards and evaluated the effectiveness of the 
                outreach, and what changes were made in 2022 as a 
                result of such evaluation, and
            (2) make recommendations for improving outreach to expand 
        the use of the credits by identified individuals.
    (b) Report.--Not later than December 31, 2022, the Treasury 
Inspector General for Tax Administration shall submit to the Committee 
on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Senate 
Committee on Finance a report on the results of the study conducted 
under subsection (a).
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