Fischer to Treasury Secretary: We Need IRS Guidance for Success of PFML Tax Credit

Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will issue guidance to employers looking to claim the Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit.

Bessent said he hopes the agency can issue guidance "early this summer."

Fischer secured the Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and made it permanent in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act last summer.

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Fischer's questioning:

Fischer: Welcome Mr. Secretary, I know that Treasury and IRS have been busy working on new guidance for the many great policies contained in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act. One of those policies is my Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit.

This credit provides a general business tax credit to employers to meaningfully offset the cost of providing Paid Family and Medical Leave to their employees.

I was proud to champion this back in the 2017 tax bill as the first federal Paid Family and Medical Leave policy in the United States. And I was particularly proud that it happened under Republican leadership.

I was also proud that in the Working Families Tax Cuts, I was able to enhance it and make it permanent. This is a big deal, and we should tout it.

My team has been working with yours, and we're eager for the updated IRS guidance to be released. That'll be critical to ensuring that employers can accurately claim tax credits and deductions, and employers are eagerly awaiting the publication of this guidance.

Mr. Secretary, do you have an estimate on when this guidance will be published, and can you work to ensure it is prioritized to expand access to Paid Family and Medical Leave for American workers?

Bessent: Senator, thank you for your leadership the on this fantastic program, and it's an important part of the Working Families Tax Cuts. So, issuing the guidance to implement the section 45S, the Paid Family Medical Leave Credit, is a Treasury and administrative priority.

As you mentioned, our Office of Tax Policy has worked very well with your staff on outstanding section 45S issues. We've also met with the various stakeholders, and we are working diligently and hope to issue guidance the early this summer.

Background

Today's hearing was convened by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government to review the president's fiscal year 2027 budget request for the Department of the Treasury.