"Congress Targets COVID Relief Fraud, Expands Child Tax Credit"

Congress is moving to wind down the employee retention tax credit program due to widespread fraud, with estimates suggesting that 95% of claims are fraudulent. Lawmakers aim to use the savings to offset the cost of three business tax breaks and expand the child tax credit for low-income families. The expanded child tax credit could provide an average tax cut of $680 in the first year for eligible households. The IRS has paused accepting claims for the tax credit until 2024 due to concerns about fraudulent applications, and has initiated criminal investigations involving potentially fraudulent claims totaling over $2.9 billion.