If the House passes Biden's new Feb 2021 covid relief bill, will those tax credit changes apply to 2020 taxes? Should we wait to file?

[DoninGA]

There is no reason to wait to file other than the IRS will not be accepting any 2020 tax returns until February 12, 2020.

Whether or not the House passes any legislation, it has go to the Senate where changes will be made, then it goes back to a House/Senate committee to iron out any differences.  If that is finally approved by both the House and the Senate, it has to be signed into law by the President if he agrees with the legislation.  He could veto the legislation and the process starts all over again.

When finally signed into law, the Treasury Department and the IRS have to write new rules and regulations based on the legislation.  This usually takes a few months to finalize.  Then the IRS issues guidance on how to claim any new credit, IF and ONLY IF, the credit is based on a 2020 or prior tax return.  The credit could very well be for tax year 2021.

[wilsons1228]

Thank you for your response. I was anxious to go ahead and file on the 12th but didn't want to have to amend it later if I could avoid it.

🙂

[fanfare]

If your 2020 AGI will deny you the next check, don't file until October 15.

The new limit looks to be $50,000 instead of $75,000.