The New Child Tax Credit Proposal Versus Old Concerns About Work Incentives – Tax Policy Center
“The current CTC offers a tax break of up to $2,000 per child, of which up to $1,600 can be available as a tax refund in excess of taxes due. The refundable portion of the credit phases in at a 15-percent rate with each dollar a taxpayer earns above $2,500 annually.
“The Wyden-Smith proposal would leave in place the $2,500 income threshold before earnings start counting toward CTC benefits. But it would gradually increase the maximum refundable credit so that, by 2025, more low-income families could receive the full credit as a tax refund.”
Getting $1,600 a year (or less) per kid in the bill Congress is debating is not enough to erase the need to work for low-income families. Can a food or home-health worker making $14,000 employed 20 hours a week stop working if she receives $3,000 to $4,000 a year to help raise two kids? Try living on less than $30,000 in most places in the US.
Meanwhile, many higher-income families getting a $2,000 tax break per kid under current law don’t need the money to get by.
CCSE articles on the child tax credit:
- Call for work requirements reveals bias against low-income families, could hurt many needing help the most – letter to WaPost
- Congress’ failure to reup expanded child tax credit displays longtime favoritism toward higher income
- Op-ed: The case for renewing the expanded child tax credit – Richmond Times-Dispatch