H.R. 8273 – Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 16, 2026 at 3:42 AM UTC

The Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026 changes the tax code so that people who serve as unpaid family caregivers can make extra catch‑up contributions to retirement accounts. It creates a new definition of “qualified family caregiver” based on caregiving hours and limited paid work, and treats these caregivers like older participants for contribution limits. The rule would take effect for tax years starting after December 31, 2026.

Key Provisions

Adds a new “qualified family caregiver” category: at least 500 caregiving hours in a year (or the prior year) and fewer than 500 hours of paid employment.
Limits the caregiver status to the lesser of one year per qualifying year or a total of five years.
Defines “family caregiver” as an unpaid family member, foster parent, or other unpaid adult providing in‑home care to a child or an adult with special needs, including elderly adults.
Allows retirement plans to rely on a caregiver’s written self‑certification of eligibility.
Treats qualified caregivers as if they were age 60 (instead of the usual age 50) for IRA catch‑up contribution limits.
Amends the relevant sections of the Internal Revenue Code and sets the changes to apply to taxable years beginning after Dec 31, 2026.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Ways and Means Committee

April 14, 2026

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

April 14, 2026

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Ways and Means Committee

April 14, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued April 14, 2026

I

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 8273

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 14, 2026

Ms. Pettersen (for herself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow additional catch-up contributions for certain family caregivers.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026.

2.

Additional catch-up contributions for certain family caregivers

(a)

In general

Subparagraph (A) of section 414(v)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(1)

by striking who would and inserting “who—

(i)

would

,

(2)

by adding or at the end, and

(3)

by adding at the end the following new clause:

(ii)

is a qualified family caregiver for the taxable year,

.

(b)

Qualified family caregiver

Paragraph (6) of section 414(v) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraphs:

(D)

Qualified family caregiver

(i)

In general

Except as provided in clause (ii), the term qualified family caregiver means an individual who—

(I)

has completed 500 or more hours as a family caregiver during the taxable year or any 1 previous taxable year, and

(II)

during the same taxable year, has completed fewer than 500 hours of paid employment (including self-employment).

(ii)

Limitation

An individual shall be treated as a qualified family caregiver for not more than a total of, consecutively or nonconsecutively, the lesser of—

(I)

1 taxable year for each taxable year during which such individual met the requirements of subclauses (I) and (II) of clause (i), or

(II)

5 taxable years.

(iii)

Family caregiver

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—

(I)

a child, or

(II)

an adult with a special need (as defined in section 2901 of the Public Health Service Act), including an elderly adult who requires care or supervision due to an age-related condition.

(iv)

Hours

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.

(v)

Plan reliance on self-certification

An applicable employer plan is entitled to rely on the written representation of an individual that the individual was a qualified family caregiver for a taxable year.

(E)

Applicable dollar amount for qualified family caregivers

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.

.

(c)

IRA catch-up contributions

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—

(I)

has attained the age of 50 before the close of the taxable year, or

(II)

is a qualified family caregiver (as defined in section 414(v)(6)(D)) for the taxable year,

the deductible amount

.

(d)

Effective date

The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2026.