Washington, D.C. – Adjustments to the child tax credit (CTC) and any additional refunds owed to working families under the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act will be processed and issued in a matter of weeks, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel confirmed to Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) today during a hearing. The tax package, which passed the House overwhelmingly with 84 percent of the vote, specifically directs the IRS to process refunds “as expeditiously as possible.”

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel publicly confirmed that the agency will only need as few as six weeks to make adjustments to the CTC once the bill is signed into law:

Commissioner Werfel confirms the agency will process and issue adjusted refunds for the CTC as quickly as possible:

Chairman Smith: “If the bill is passed by the Senate and signed into law, how quickly will you be able to make the child tax credit adjustments?”

Commissioner Werfel: “Well, we gave you a range of six to twelve weeks required for implementation from the point of enactment. The reason we give a range is because we need to see the final language. But I’m committed to work diligently to make sure we’re closer to the six week end of that range than the twelve week.”

Chairman Smith: “So just to be clear, we have your commitment that the IRS will move as quickly as possible to implement these changes?”

Commissioner Werfel: “It will be a top priority to make sure that this gets done.”

Commissioner Werfel also confirmed for the Committee that just 10 percent of households will see modest adjustments to their tax refunds due to changes in the child tax credit, allowing the agency to quickly process refunds:

Chairman Smith: “The overwhelming majority of American taxpayers are guaranteed to have no adjustment to their tax liability due to the child tax credit changes in this bill. In fact, can you confirm that only roughly 10 percent of households will be affected and will receive just modest adjustments to their tax refunds?”

Commissioner Werfel: “Yes.

Given the smaller universe of taxpayers impacted and the easier administrative implementation, the IRS confirmed they will be able to comply swiftly with the requirements under the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act:

Chairman Smith: “In the past, Congress has asked the IRS to make changes during tax filing season. In fact, Congress has asked the IRS to make much larger changes than this bill does like paying out hundreds of millions of stimulus payments or creating a monthly child tax credit system on the fly. The number of taxpayers affected here is a fraction of those affected in those other programs.

“Given that, can you confirm the administrative adjustments needed here are a much lighter lift for the agency than for those other programs?”

Commissioner Werfel: “Yes.”

Commissioner Werfel confirmed to the Committee that parents who will have already filed their taxes when the tax bill becomes law will not have to refile their taxes:

Chairman Smith: “We worked with your team to make sure the bill did not place a new burden on taxpayers. Can you confirm that taxpayers DO NOT need to file amended returns to obtain the adjustments the bill makes?”

Commissioner Werfel: “Yes.”