This bill amends RCW 82.08.0206 to continue and specify a refundable working families' tax credit funded by the state sales and use tax. For calendar year 2023 and thereafter it sets base refund amounts ($300 with no qualifying children; $600 with one qualifying child; $900 with two; $1,200 with three or more), requires those amounts to be reduced by specified percentage rates based on income thresholds tied to the federal phase-out (with rounding rules), establishes a $50 minimum refund when a calculated refund is greater than $0 but less than $50, and directs annual inflation indexing and rounding of refund amounts. It also creates an additional refundable amount initially set at $300 beginning in calendar year 2026 for people who leased or rented their primary Washington residence for at least 183 days in the claim year, subject to documentation and application requirements. The department administering the credit must handle applications, verification, rulemaking, outreach, confidentiality protections, and is authorized to work with the IRS to administer the credit automatically when practicable. The bill modifies procedures and enforcement authorities for the credit. The department may verify eligibility through audits and administrative records, accept signed attestations subject to audit, and assess overpaid amounts against claimants (and jointly against spouses for joint returns). Interest under RCW 82.32.050 applies to such assessments beginning six months after an assessment; certain collection penalties under RCW 82.32.090 may not be made due until six months after assessment; and if the department proves by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that an individual knowingly submitted a fraudulent claim, it must assess an additional penalty equal to 50 percent of the overpaid amount. If the department finds an underpayment within the allowed refund period it must remit the additional amount due, and interest does not apply to refunds. Chapter 82.32 RCW is made applicable to administration of this section. Key legal and textual gaps or uncertainties in the provided text: the specific state "department" charged with administration is not identified in the extracted facts; the document is truncated mid-subsection so some implementation and calculation details are missing; the bill references creation of new sections that are not included in the extracts; and there is an inconsistency in effective periods—one part of the extracts says the credit applies to calendar years beginning January 1, 2022, while another part states refunds may not be provided for any period before January 1, 2025. These points and certain exact income thresholds and final procedural language are not determinable from the provided excerpts.

If enacted, low-income Washington taxpayers who qualify for the federal earned income tax credit would also become eligible for a new refundable state credit paid from sales and use tax revenues, with set base payments of $300 (no children), $600 (one child), $900 (two children), and $1,200 (three or more), reduced by income-based steps and with a $50 minimum if a calculated amount is positive but under $50. Renters who can show they leased their primary residence for at least 183 days could get an extra refundable amount (initially $300) starting in 2026; all refund amounts will be adjusted annually for inflation and the administering state department must handle applications, verification, outreach, and coordination with the IRS, while also having authority to audit, recover overpayments (including from a joint filer’s spouse), charge interest after six months, and impose a 50 percent penalty for knowingly fraudulent claims. The people most affected are eligible low-income families and renters, who could see direct cash increases but will need to keep lease and income records and may face repayment obligations if audits find overpayments; the state department charged with running the program will take on new workload and likely administrative costs for rulemaking, verification, and outreach. There is some uncertainty in the text about when refunds may first be paid—one part says the credit applies to years beginning in 2022 while another provision bars refunds before January 1, 2025—and the bill text here omits the department’s name and some income-threshold and calculation details.