Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy

Child Tax Credit

Minnesota Lawmakers Re-Envision State Tax System to Center Equity

Minnesota’s House, Senate and Governor’s office have each proposed their own vision as to how the state should maximize its $17.5 billion surplus and raise new revenue, and these tax plans make one thing clear: Minnesota lawmakers are serious about using tax policy to advance tax equity and improve the lives of Minnesotans.

Why is My Refund So Much Smaller This Year? Only the Good (Tax Credits) Die Young.

This year millions of American families are finding that their refunds are much smaller than last year—or that they even owe taxes back to the government—because of the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit that were in effect in 2021. The lapse of the expanded credits affects a majority of the middle class, but lower-income households are particularly likely to feel the sting.

Effects of President Biden’s Proposal to Expand the Child Tax Credit

In his latest budget proposal, President Biden proposes enhancing the Child Tax Credit (CTC) based on the temporary credit that was in effect for 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. In this report we analyze how that proposal would help children and families.

ITEP Statement: President Biden Lays Out a Bold Vision for Tax Justice in Proposed Budget

President Biden’s budget proposal presents a bold vision for what tax justice should look like in America. The provisions would raise substantial revenue, fund important priorities and increase tax fairness.

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The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year

February 22, 2023 • By Carl Davis

The Five Best Tax Ideas Coming from Governors This Year

The word “tax” appears 97 times and counting in one recent summary of governors’ addresses to state legislators so far this year. The policy visions that governors are bringing, however, vary enormously. While there's good reason to worry about tax cuts for wealthy families and the flattening or elimination of income taxes, there are at least five great tax ideas coming directly out of governors’ offices this year.

State of the Union Likely to Continue Progress on Tax Justice

After decades of Presidents who ran away from taxes, it’s a sea change to have a chief executive who understands that the rich should pay their fair share, extremely profitable corporations should pay their fair share, and the public sector should have revenue to invest in problems – like climate change and healthcare – that will only be solved with pathbreaking public action.

Momentum Behind State Tax Credits for Workers and Families Continues in 2023

Refundable tax credits are an important tool for improving family economic security and advancing racial equity, and there is incredible momentum heading into 2023 to boost two key state credits: the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The Tax Deal That Wasn’t: Congress Decides Corporate Tax Cuts Are Too Expensive if it Means Also Helping Children

Congressional leaders announced their long-awaited omnibus spending package which will fund the government through September 2023. The good news: the bill does not include needless corporate tax giveaways. The bad news: it also leaves out any expansion of the child tax credit.

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ITEP’s Top 5 Charts of 2022

December 19, 2022 • By Jon Whiten

ITEP’s Top 5 Charts of 2022

Covering federal, state, and corporate tax work, here are our top 5 charts of 2022. It’s worth noting that the biggest tax news of 2022 – the adoption of a federal 15 percent corporate minimum tax in the Inflation Reduction Act –  should make some of these charts look much better after the new law is implemented.

Child Tax Credit Expansion Would Shrink the Racial Wealth Gap

Extending the expanded Child Tax Credit would benefit nearly every child in low- and middle-income families. Under current rules, 24% of white children, 45% of Black children, and 42% of Hispanic children will not receive the full credit in 2023 because their families make too little. These figures would drop to zero if the provisions were extended, helping families of all races and disproportionately helping families of color.

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States Can Halve Child Poverty with Child Tax Credits

November 16, 2022 • By Aidan Davis

States Can Halve Child Poverty with Child Tax Credits

State policymakers have the tools they need to drastically reduce child poverty within their borders. A new ITEP report, coauthored with Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, explores state Child Tax Credit (CTC) options that would reduce child poverty by up to 50 percent. Temporary expansion of the federal CTC in 2021 reduced […]

State Child Tax Credits and Child Poverty: A 50-State Analysis

Regardless of future Child Tax Credit developments at the federal level, state policies can supplement the federal credit to deliver additional benefits to children and families. State credits can be specifically tailored to meet the needs of local populations while also producing long-term benefits for society as a whole

Key Republicans Say Negligible Decline in Economic Growth Outweighs Enormous Drop in Child Poverty

The expanded Child Tax Credit reduced child poverty dramatically and immediately. There is no debate or murkiness on this. Some lawmakers have decided that cutting child poverty in half is not worth the cost if it means an ambiguous and negligible decline in GDP growth. This view is not just cruel, it is bad economics.

Congress Should Not Leave Children Out of Possible Year-End Tax Deal

If lawmakers believe it’s worthwhile to extend corporate tax breaks, then it would be entirely unreasonable for them to not conclude the same about tax provisions that help low-income children.

More States are Boosting Economic Security with Child Tax Credits in 2022

After years of being limited in reach, there is increasing momentum at the state level to adopt and expand Child Tax Credits. Today ten states are lifting the household incomes of families with children through yearly multi-million-dollar investments in the form of targeted, and usually refundable, CTCs.

Census Data Shows Need to Make 2021 Child Tax Credit Expansion Permanent

The Child Tax Credit expansion led to a 46 percent decline in childhood poverty. That it could be accomplished during the largest economic disruption in most of our lifetimes underscores a basic fact: thoughtful, decisive government action to combat poverty works.

Romney Child Tax Credit Plan Would Leave Millions of Children Worse Off and Raise Taxes for the Average Black Family

Sen. Romney’s plan would expand the Child Tax Credit and offset the costs by scaling back other tax benefits. All told, it would raise taxes on a fourth of all kids in the U.S. This includes about a fourth of the children among the poorest fifth of U.S. families.

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National and State-by-State Estimates of Two Approaches to Expanding the Child Tax Credit

September 7, 2022 • By Emma Sifre, Joe Hughes, Steve Wamhoff

National and State-by-State Estimates of Two Approaches to Expanding the Child Tax Credit

The Romney Child Tax Credit plan would leave a quarter of children worse off compared to current law and help half as many low-income children as the 2021 expansion of the credit.

Legislative Momentum in 2022: New and Expanded Child Tax Credits and EITCs

State legislatures across the country made investments in their future, centering children, families, and workers by enacting and expanding state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITCs), Child Tax Credits (CTCs), and other refundable credits this session. In total, seven states either expanded or created CTCs this session. Connecticut, New Mexico, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont […]

Abortion-Restricting States Do Least for Children

July 13, 2022 • By Amy Hanauer

Abortion-Restricting States Do Least for Children

Lawmakers have passed laws in 22 states that either immediately or soon will greatly restrict women’s rights to decide whether and when to have children. These states have some of the worst tax, spending and labor market policies for families in the U.S.

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Public Problems Demand Public Solutions

April 18, 2022 • By Amy Hanauer

Public Problems Demand Public Solutions

Long-term troubles for this country and this planet now demand our attention. Progressive tax policy would transform our ability to tackle them.

Women’s History Month is a Reminder that Sensible Tax Policy is Central to Women’s Economic Security

Women’s History Month is a chance to remember what happens for women when tax policy becomes more progressive, boosts income, and helps make raising a family more affordable.

What We Can Learn Today from the American Rescue Plan – and Sen. Rick Scott’s Proposed Tax Increases

The success of the American Rescue Plan Act is worth revisiting today. Instead of pursuing Sen. Rick Scott’s agenda of making life more difficult for those already working the hardest, Congress should extend or make permanent some of the beneficial policies in ARPA.

A Better Alternative: New Mexico Prioritizes Targeted, Temporary Tax Cuts

New Mexico stands in stark contrast to the many examples of poorly targeted tax-cut proposals currently being considered around the country.

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The Compelling Data and Moral Case for Continuing the Child Tax Credit Expansion

January 14, 2022 • By Alex Welch, ITEP Staff, Jenice Robinson

The Compelling Data and Moral Case for Continuing the Child Tax Credit Expansion

In just six short months, the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC), enacted as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP), decreased the number of children living in poverty by 40 percent. ITEP estimated that the lowest-income 20 percent of households with children would receive a 35 percent income boost from this policy alone in 2021. This is a meaningful, life-changing sum.