Key provisions of the earned income tax and child tax credits benefitting 37,000 Maine families including 64,000 children were set to expire in 2017
Augusta, Maine (Friday, December 18, 2015) Congress- with support from all four members of Maine’s delegation -has passed legislation that will make permanent key provisions of the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC).
“The EITC and CTC reward work by letting working families keep more of what they earn to pay for essentials like school supplies for their kids or car repairs to help them get to work,” said Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) executive director Garrett Martin. “More than 37,000 hardworking Maine families, including 64,000 children, would have lost some or all of their working family tax credits set to expire in 2017. More than 26,000 rural Maine families and 12,000 veteran and military households count on EITC and CTC benefits to make ends meet which this bill makes permanent.”
The EITC and CTC are working family tax credits that offset federal payroll and income taxes, putting more money in the family budget. Without this bill, which President Obama has said he will sign, more than 16 million people in low- and modest-income working families, including 16,000 Maine children, would fall into — or deeper into — poverty in 2018.
“These working family tax credits also provide modest amounts of funds for folks to invest in the education they need to improve their skills and standard of living,” Martin said. “They may provide the funds for a down payment to replace an unreliable vehicle or buy new equipment for a family-owned small business. These working family credits strengthen Maine’s and the nation’s economy for all of us. We are grateful to Maine’s congressional delegation for their unanimous support of this bill.”
