HR 8273
Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026
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Bill overview
This bill, the Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026, amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow additional catch-up contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for certain family caregivers. It defines a ‘qualified family caregiver’ as an individual who has provided a significant amount of unpaid care to a child or adult with special needs, meeting specific hour requirements. The bill also allows for increased catch-up contributions for individuals who qualify as family caregivers.
Key provisions
- Allows additional IRA catch-up contributions for qualified family caregivers.
- Defines a ‘qualified family caregiver’ based on hours of unpaid caregiving (500+ hours in a year or 400+ hours in the previous year).
- Specifies that a qualified family caregiver must be unemployed or severely underemployed.
- The term ‘family caregiver’ includes unpaid family members, foster parents, and other unpaid adults.
- Individuals can only claim the qualified family caregiver status for a maximum of 5 taxable years.
- Employers can rely on written representations from individuals regarding their qualified family caregiver status.
- Treats qualified family caregivers similarly to those aged 60 who would not reach age 64.
- Applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.
Who is affected
- Family caregivers
- Individuals with special needs (children and adults)
- Unpaid family members
- Employers offering retirement plans
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119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 8273
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow additional catch-up contributions for certain family caregivers.
This Act may be cited as the Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026
.
Subparagraph (A) of section 414(v)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—
by striking who would
and inserting “who—
would
by adding or
at the end, and
by adding at the end the following new clause:
is a qualified family caregiver for the taxable year,
Paragraph (6) of section 414(v) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:
Except as provided in clause (ii), the term qualified family caregiver means an individual who—
has completed 500 or more hours as a family caregiver during the taxable year or any 1 previous taxable year, and
during the same taxable year, has completed fewer than 500 hours of paid employment (including self-employment).
An individual shall be treated as a qualified family caregiver for not more than a total of, consecutively or nonconsecutively, the lesser of—
1 taxable year for each taxable year during which such individual met the requirements of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i), or
5 taxable years.
The term family caregiver means an unpaid family member, a foster parent, or another unpaid adult, who is unemployed or severely underemployed (as determined by the Secretary) and who provides in-home care, monitoring, management, supervision, or treatment of—
An individual shall be treated as serving as a family caregiver during the hours in which the individual is engaged in caregiving tasks including assistance with bathing or grooming, dressing, laundry, food shopping or preparation, housekeeping, managing medications, transportation, and mobility assistance.
An individual who is an eligible participant for the taxable year by reason of being a qualified family caregiver shall be treated for purposes of paragraph (2) in the same manner as an eligible participant who would attain age 60 but would not attain age 64 before the close of the taxable year.
Clause (i) of section 219(b)(5)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking who has attained the age of 50 before the close of the taxable year, the deductible amount
and inserting “who—
has attained the age of 50 before the close of the taxable year, or
is a qualified family caregiver (as defined in section 414(v)(6)(D)) for the taxable year,
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.