1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress INSIGHTINSIGHTi i The Child Tax Credit and Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) December 16, 2021 With consideration of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA; H.R. 5376), congressional interest has focused on whether children who do
2、 not have Social Security numbers (SSNs) should be eligible for the child tax credit. In 2021, the credit has been temporarily expanded and is a near-universal benefit for all but the highest-income families with children who file a federal income tax return. Under current law, from 2018 through 202
3、5, taxpayers who do not provide the SSN of an otherwise-eligible child cannot receive a child credit for that childincluding the expanded credit for 2021. Hence, taxpayers cannot receive the child credit for children who have individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs). The House-passed BBBA
4、and the updated Senate Finance Committee text released December 11, 2021, would strike this temporary SSN requirement and allow taxpayers to claim the credit for otherwise eligible children with any taxpayer identification (ID) number, including ITINs, beginning in 2022. This Insight provides an ove