# Plain Language Summary: Lower Your Taxes Act

This bill makes significant changes to tax credits that benefit working people and families with children. The main goal is to put more money back in the pockets of lower and middle-income Americans through expanded tax benefits, while raising taxes on wealthy investors and large corporations to help pay for these changes.

The biggest change involves the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a benefit for working people who earn modest incomes. Right now, this credit maxes out at around $3,700 for most workers. The bill would roughly double this amount—increasing it to around $7,400 for single workers and even more for families. It also removes age restrictions that currently limit who can claim this credit, allowing younger workers (starting at age 18 instead of 25) to benefit. The bill also expands the income levels at which people can claim this credit, meaning more working people would qualify. Additionally, the Treasury Department would be required to notify people who might be eligible for this credit but haven't claimed it, helping ensure more people actually get the money they're entitled to.

For families with children, the bill creates a new monthly child tax credit that would send payments directly to parents throughout the year rather than waiting until tax time. Families would receive $350 per month for each child under age 6, and $300 per month for each older child. This means a family with two young children could receive $8,400 per year in monthly payments. These payments would gradually reduce for higher-income families, but most working and middle-class families would receive the full amount.

To help pay for these expanded benefits, the bill increases taxes on wealthy investors by eliminating preferential tax rates for capital gains (investment profits) for high-income earners, and it raises corporate tax rates. The bill also includes a provision to help people in states that have their own earned income tax credits by making those state credits refundable at the federal level, meaning people could receive the full benefit even if they don't owe state income taxes.

Lower Your Taxes Act

Sykes, Emilia Strong

Lower Your Taxes Act This bill increases the earned income tax credit, makes the child tax credit fully refundable, and establishes a program of advance monthly payments for such credit. The bill increases the percentage rates and amounts of the earned income tax credit and expands age eligibility for the credit (lowering the age baseline from 25 to 18 and eliminating the age 65 limit). The bill establishes a new refundable child tax credit with monthly advance payments of credit amounts. The bill creates several set-off provisions, including (1) denying preferential capital gain tax rates for taxpayers with taxable income in excess of $1 million, (2) increasing the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%, and (3) increasing the excise tax rate on repurchases of corporate stock and the rate of the corporate alternative minimum tax.