Working Families Tax Cuts Act: Eligibility, Amounts, and Filing

The Working Families Tax Cut Act is a bill (H.R. 1833) introduced in the House in March 2025 that would expand the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, most notably by roughly tripling the maximum credit available to workers without qualifying children and by broadening the age range for those workers. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and has not been enacted.¹ Until it passes, the current EITC under 26 U.S.C. § 32 is what determines your credit, and the rules and dollar amounts below reflect that existing law.

What the Bill Would Change

The bill’s headline change targets workers who claim the EITC without a qualifying child. Under current law, the maximum credit for that group is roughly $649. The bill would push that ceiling to approximately $1,500.²

It would also open the credit to more childless workers by age. The existing rule requires you to be at least 25 and under 65 to claim the EITC without a qualifying child.³ The bill lowers the floor to 19 and removes the upper cap entirely, so workers 65 and older could claim the credit for the first time.

If those changes sound familiar, they echo a one-year expansion Congress passed for tax year 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act. That version lowered the minimum age and raised the childless credit temporarily. It expired, and the pre-2021 rules came back. The Working Families Tax Cut Act would put similar provisions in place on a more lasting footing.

For now, none of these expanded amounts or age rules are available to filers. The bill has not moved beyond referral to committee.

What You Can Claim Under Current Law

The existing Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable credit for workers who earn income from a job or self-employment and fall below set income limits. Everyone on the return, including your spouse if filing jointly and every qualifying child, must have a Social Security number valid for employment. An ITIN doesn’t count.⁴

You can claim the credit without children, but the amount is much smaller, and you must be 25 to 64 at the end of the year, have lived in the U.S. more than half the year, and not be a qualifying child on someone else’s return.³ Investment income for the year must be $11,950 or less for tax year 2025.²

Qualifying Child Rules

A qualifying child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or a descendant of any of these; must be under 19 at year-end (or under 24 if a full-time student); and must have lived with you more than six months of the year.⁵ There is no age limit if the child has a permanent and total disability, defined by the IRS as a condition that prevents substantial gainful activity and that a doctor confirms has lasted, or is expected to last, at least a year, or could lead to death.⁶

Filing Separately

Married taxpayers filing separately can claim the EITC only under a narrow exception: you need a qualifying child who lived with you more than half the year, and you must have either lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year or been legally separated under a written agreement by year-end.⁷ Simply choosing to file separately while still living together won’t qualify.

Credit Amounts and Income Limits

The current credit scales with your income and the number of qualifying children. For tax year 2025 (returns filed in early 2026):²

No qualifying children: maximum credit $649; income limit $19,104 (single/head of household) or $26,214 (married filing jointly).
One qualifying child: maximum credit $4,328; income limit $50,434 or $57,554.
Two qualifying children: maximum credit $7,152; income limit $57,310 or $64,430.
Three or more qualifying children: maximum credit $8,046; income limit $61,555 or $68,675.

For tax year 2026, the maximum credits rise slightly to $664 with no children, $4,427 with one, $7,316 with two, and $8,231 with three or more.

The credit phases in as earnings rise, plateaus, and then phases out. Because of that shape, earning more can actually give you a larger credit up to a point. The EITC is fully refundable, so you receive the full amount even when you owe no federal income tax.

What Counts as Earned Income

Earned income means wages, salaries, tips, and net self-employment earnings. It does not include unemployment benefits, Social Security payments, child support, alimony, pensions, or investment returns.² Self-employment losses can drag your earned income down and cut into your credit.

Military Combat Pay

If you receive nontaxable combat pay, you can elect to include it in earned income for EITC purposes.⁸ Depending on where your income sits on the phase-in and phase-out curves, that election can either raise your refund or shrink it, so run the numbers both ways. The choice is all-or-nothing per spouse, and if both spouses are military, each decides independently. Your nontaxable combat pay appears on your W-2 in box 12, code Q.

How to Claim It

You claim the EITC on Form 1040. If you have qualifying children, attach Schedule EIC with each child’s name, Social Security number, year of birth, and months lived with you during the tax year.⁴ Schedule EIC errors are one of the top reasons EITC refunds get delayed or denied, so check every field.

E-filing is the fastest way through. Most electronic returns finish processing within 21 days. Paper returns lag well behind: the IRS is currently processing original Form 1040 paper returns received as recently as March 2026.⁹

One timing rule catches EITC filers every year. Under the PATH Act, the IRS must hold refunds on any return claiming the EITC or the Additional Child Tax Credit until at least February 15, even if you filed in January.¹⁰ The hold applies to the entire refund, not just the credit portion. Most affected refunds arrive by late February or early March if the return is clean.

Missed a Prior Year

If you qualified for the EITC in a previous year and didn’t claim it, you can file Form 1040-X to amend. The deadline is generally three years from when you filed the original return, or two years from when you paid the tax, whichever is later.¹¹ If you never filed at all, the three-year clock runs from the original due date. Miss the window and the refund is gone.

Watching the Bill

Until Congress acts on H.R. 1833, the childless-worker credit stays capped around $649, the age band stays 25 to 64 for workers without a qualifying child, and every other figure above holds. The bill’s status can be tracked on Congress.gov.¹ If it becomes law, expect the effective date and any transition rules to be spelled out in the enacted text; nothing changes on your return before then.

1
Congress.gov. H.R.1833 – Working Families Tax Cut Act
2
Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables
3
Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
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Internal Revenue Service. Basic Qualifications for EITC
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 32 – Earned Income
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Internal Revenue Service. Disability and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
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Internal Revenue Service. Publication 596 (2025), Earned Income Credit (EIC)
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Internal Revenue Service. Military and Clergy Rules for the Earned Income Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Processing Status for Tax Forms
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Internal Revenue Service. Filing Season Statistics for Week Ending Feb. 6, 2026
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Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund