SECURE Benefits Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith
Introduced
Summary
Link tax-credit eligibility to verified work authorization and a temporary SSN. This bill would condition claims for the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Saver's Credit on documented employment authorization and create a new temporary work-authorized Social Security number and card. It would set up DHS, SSA, and IRS data sharing to confirm authorization, expand the IRS's math-error checks to use SSNs, and add penalties tied to invalid work authorizations.
Show full summary
- Families and households: People claiming CTC, EITC, or Saver's benefits would need SSNs that reflect valid work authorization and proper documentation to receive or compute those credits. Most eligibility rules would apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2026.
- Noncitizen workers with temporary authorization: Individuals with temporary work authorization could receive a temporary work-authorized SSN and card if DHS confirms current authorization. The temporary-SSN program would be phased in with an effective date starting January 1, 2027.
- Tax administration and compliance: The IRS would rely on SSNs instead of TINs for math-error authority on these credits and could assess a new penalty equal to the greater of the credit claimed or $5,000 for invalid work authorization, with aggregation across credits and reasonable-cause protections.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 4 costs, 1 mixed.
Child Tax Credit: SSN and penalties
You would need both spouses' Social Security numbers on a joint return to claim the Child Tax Credit. If a child or spouse uses a temporary work SSN, Treasury and DHS would have to confirm valid work authorization when the return is filed. The Treasury would set what documents you must show. A penalty equal to the credit claimed or $5,000 could apply for fraud tied to invalid or expired temporary work authorization, unless you show reasonable cause and good faith.
Earned Income Credit: work-SSN checks
If enacted, an individual using a temporary work Social Security number would not be an eligible worker or qualifying child for the Earned Income Tax Credit unless Treasury, with DHS, confirms they had valid work authorization when the return was filed. Treasury would set the required form and documentation. This would apply for tax years after December 31, 2026.
Expanded penalties for bad work SSNs
If enacted, the same large penalty (the credit claimed or $5,000, whichever is larger) would apply to fraud tied to invalid temporary work authorizations for EITC, Saver's Credit, Saver's Match, and certain education credits. Where penalties apply for more than one credit, they would be added together. This would apply for tax years after December 31, 2026.
Saver's Credit and Match: SSN rule
If enacted, you could not claim the Saver's Credit unless you include your Social Security number on that year's tax return. You would also need to include your Social Security number to be treated as eligible for the Saver's Match contribution. The Social Security number meaning is tied to the tax code reference. This would apply for tax years after December 31, 2026.
Temporary work SSNs and checks
If enacted, SSA would issue temporary work Social Security numbers and cards that say the number is only valid for the job and time DHS allows. DHS would have to share temporary work authorization details with SSA, and SSA would share them with Treasury/IRS. The IRS could treat missing or wrong Social Security numbers for certain credits as math errors, letting it adjust returns without a full audit. The temporary-SSN rules would start January 1, 2027, and the math-error changes would apply for tax years after December 31, 2026.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Cindy Hyde-Smith
MS • R
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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