As Congress considers a budget bill that would enhance the child tax credit for millions of lower-income families, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel assured the House of Representatives’ tax-writing committee that his agency would be able to process any changes to the credit and send out the necessary refunds in a timely manner, Accounting Today reported.

The IRS would be able to implement changes to the Child Tax Credit within weeks and send out tax refunds promptly, Werfel told the legislators at a hearing on Feb. 15.

Asked by Committee on Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) how quickly the IRS could make adjustments if the bill currently before the Senate ultimately passes, Werfel responded, "We gave you a range of six to 12 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 12-week."

"So just to be clear, we have your commitment that the IRS will move as quickly as possible to implement these changes?" Smith asked.

"It will be a top priority to make sure that this gets done," Werfel said.

The bill would incrementally raise the amount of the child tax credit, which is currently $2,000 per child, but not all of it is refundable. The legislation would incrementally raise the amount of the credit that is available as a refund, increasing it to $1,800 for 2023 tax returns, $1,900 for the following year and $2,000 for 2025 tax returns. The bill would also adjust the topline credit amount to temporarily grow at the rate of inflation, and keep a threshold of a household having $2,500 in income to be eligible for refundable child tax credit payments.

The IRS would be able to process the refunds quickly because only 10 percent of households would see modest adjustments to their tax refunds due to changes in the Child Tax Credit, said Werfel.