This bill establishes a new nonrefundable personal tax credit (for three years) of $3,500 for critical employees. The bill also increases and makes other changes to the child tax credit.

Under the bill, a critical employee is defined as an individual who works full-time for at least 75% of the tax year (as certified by such individual’s employer) as a

• healthcare professional,
• law enforcement officer,
• member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew,
• firefighter,
• eligible child care provider,
• family child care provider, or
• personal or homecare aid.

Further, under the bill, such individual’s primary place of employment for the majority of hours worked during the tax year must be in a qualified opportunity zone. (A qualified opportunity zone is an economically distressed community where new investments may be eligible for certain tax preferences.)

This bill increases the child tax credit from $2,000 per qualifying child to $3,500 per qualifying child (or $4,500 per qualifying child under six years old).

The bill also

• increases the age limit of a qualifying child to 17 years old (from 16 years old),
• extends the threshold at which the child tax credit begins to phase out ($200,000 for single taxpayers or $400,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly),
• extends the child tax credit identification requirements applicable to qualifying children, and
• increases the refundable portion of the child tax credit for certain taxpayers with fewer than three qualifying children.