Congressman Cohen Votes to Expand Child Tax Credit to Thousands of Memphis Families Under Bipartisan Tax Package

MEMPHIS, TN — Last night, Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) voted to pass H.R. 7024, a bipartisan bill that would expand the Child Tax Credit to thousands of families in Memphis and TN-9. Among other critical tax provisions, the bill would also enhance the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, helping to develop new affordable housing units nationwide, and would restore the Research and Development tax deduction that helps incentivize businesses to innovate and create new jobs.

“Last night, I voted to pass a tax package that would expand the Child Tax Credit for 79,000 kids in Memphis and TN-9, lifting many of them out of poverty,” said Congressman Cohen. “The bill would also increase the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — which would benefit many families in my district and would help relieve the nationwide affordable housing crisis — and would restore the R&D tax deduction that incentivizes businesses to innovate and create real, local jobs. While I’m disappointed that the Child Tax Credit and other family-first provisions don’t match the historic help we were able to provide under the American Rescue Plan of 2021, the fact is that we need to take every win we can in a GOP-led House — and this is a big one.”

The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) estimates that 79,000 children in Memphis and TN-9 would benefit from the expanded Child Tax Credit under H.R. 7024, and that the bill would lift many above the poverty line in its first year, with even more set to benefit in 2025.

Key provisions of H.R. 7024 include:

• Expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) — The bill would increase the maximum refundability of the CTC, allowing low-income families to receive more of the credit than they were able to previously. The bill would also give families the option to use their earned income from the prior year to calculate their CTC. It would also allow families to modify the computation of refundability on a per-child basis—meaning more families with multiple children will qualify for a higher CTC—and would adjust the CTC for inflation starting in 2025 to keep pace with the cost of living.
• Enhancing the Low-Income Tax Credit — H.R. 7024 would help lower the cost of housing by enhancing the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. The House Ways and Means Committee estimates that these improvements will help develop more than 200,000 new affordable housing units nationwide.
• Restoring the Research & Development Tax Deduction — The bill would also restore the immediate R&D tax deduction for businesses, which helps incentivize them to innovate and to create new jobs. Businesses were previously ale to take this immediate R&D deduction through 2021. However, starting in 2022, they were made to amortize R&D expenditures over 5 years. H.R. 7024 would allow businesses to once again deduct the cost of U.S.-based R&D investments immediately.

H.R. 7024 was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives last night by a vote of 357-70. The bill now awaits consideration in the U.S. Senate.

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