NM, NJ and OK childless EITC age tests still count dependents' ages (state follow-up to #9131) #10223

Defect

Three state copies of the childless EITC age test still apply the age window with tax_unit.any(...) over every tax-unit member. An adult dependent's age therefore makes an otherwise age-ineligible childless filer eligible:

• nm_eitc_demographic_eligible: return has_child | tax_unit.any(meets_age_requirements)
• nj_childless_eitc_age_eligible: & tax_unit.any(age_eligible)
• ok_federal_eitc_demographic_eligible: return has_child | tax_unit.any(meets_age_requirements)

This is the state follow-up to #9131, which named NM and OK. #9132 fixed the federal eitc_demographic_eligible by masking the test with ~person("is_tax_unit_dependent", period), but these three variables were not changed. Reproduced on main a2f63c1 (2.42.8).

Law

Each quote below was extracted mechanically from the linked official source.

Federal, 26 U.S.C. 32(c)(1)(A)(ii), for an individual without a qualifying child. U.S. Code 2024 edition (govinfo); the 2020 edition that Oklahoma incorporates has the same clause:

(II) such individual (or, if the individual is married, either the individual or the individual's spouse) has attained age 25 but not attained age 65 before the close of the taxable year,

New Mexico, NMSA 1978 § 7-2-18.15 (working families tax credit), from the TRD Income Tax Act compilation revised May 20, 2026, pp. 72–73. Subsection A credits "the federal earned income tax credit for which that taxpayer is eligible". Subsection B:

B. A taxpayer who is a resident and who files an individual New Mexico tax return may claim a credit in an amount equal to twenty percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2021, and twenty-five percent for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, of the federal earned income tax credit for which that taxpayer would have been eligible for the same taxable year but for the age requirement pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 32(c)(1)(A)(ii)(II), as that section may be amended or renumbered; provided that the taxpayer is at least eighteen years of age but has not reached the age of twenty-five.

New Jersey, N.J.S.A. 54A:4-7 a(4), as amended by P.L. 2021, c.130:

(4) A resident individual who is at least 18 years of age or older, but cannot claim a qualifying child as defined under section 152 of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. s.152) for the federal earned income tax credit, shall be eligible for the New Jersey earned income tax credit if that resident individual is ineligible to claim the federal earned income tax credit due to age requirements. The resident individual shall meet all qualifications, except for the minimum or maximum age, for the federal earned income tax credit in order to be eligible for the New Jersey earned income tax credit. ...

Oklahoma, 68 O.S. § 2357.43, Title 68 compilation p. 822 (page furniture removed):

For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022, there shall be allowed to a resident individual or a part-year resident individual as a credit against the tax imposed by Section 2355 of this title five percent (5%) of the earned income tax credit allowed under Section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States, 26 U.S.C., Section 32, which for the taxable year beginning January 1, 2022, and the taxable year beginning each January 1 thereafter shall be computed using the same requirements, other than the five percent (5%) amount to compute the credit as prescribed by this section which shall remain constant, in effect for computation of the earned income tax credit for federal income tax purposes for the 2020 income tax year.

In each state the age test reads the claimant: "that taxpayer", "the resident individual", or, through 32(c)(1)(A)(ii)(II), "such individual (or ... spouse)". It never reads another member of the claimant's tax unit.

Reproduction

Tax year 2025. The filer has $8,000 of wages and no EITC qualifying child. The second person has no income and is is_tax_unit_dependent: true, or a non-dependent spouse on a joint return. The law column follows from the quotes above.

In-flight fixes

• NJ and OK: draft Apply New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania rules for a filer who can be claimed as a dependent #10043 masks both age tests with ~person("is_tax_unit_dependent", period), as Restrict childless EITC age test to filer and spouse #9132 does, and adds adult-dependent regressions. Merging it would fix this for NJ and OK.
• NM: draft Apply New Mexico's rules for a filer who can be claimed as a dependent #10088 masks nm_eitc_demographic_eligible with is_tax_unit_head_or_spouse instead. Restrict childless EITC age test to filer and spouse #9132 explains why it did not use that mask: head/spouse roles can be age-ranked, so an older adult dependent can be the head.
  • On main, a household with a 17-year-old filer and an is_tax_unit_dependent: true 30-year-old computes the 30-year-old as is_tax_unit_head. A head-or-spouse mask would admit that dependent's age. In that household NM's child route is also true (tax_unit_children = 1), so the case does not flip the credit by itself.
  • Using ~is_tax_unit_dependent in Apply New Mexico's rules for a filer who can be claimed as a dependent #10088, as Restrict childless EITC age test to filer and spouse #9132 and Apply New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania rules for a filer who can be claimed as a dependent #10043 do, removes the dependence on role inference.

axiom: n/a for the member-age sweep. In rulespec-us 4b35d08, us-nm 7-2-18/15 computes the age exception from taxpayer_age, NJ's resident_individual_is_at_least_18_years_old is an input, and OK's 2026 core takes the frozen-2020 federal amount as an input. The federal childless_taxpayer_or_spouse_age_eligible_for_eitc input projection gets the same filers-only fix in TheAxiomFoundation/axiom-oracles#632.