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
Aidan Davis
Aidan Davis works closely with policymakers, legislative staff, and state organizations across the country to advance policy solutions that aim to achieve equitable and sustainable state and local tax systems. Much of her research focuses on tax credits for lower-income families and state tax measures to improve revenue adequacy.
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report November 16, 2022 State Child Tax Credits and Child Poverty: A 50-State Analysis
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brief September 15, 2022 Boosting Incomes and Improving Tax Equity with State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2022
States continued their recent trend of advancing EITCs in 2022, with nine states plus the District of Columbia either creating or improving their credits. Utah enacted a 15 percent nonrefundable EITC, while the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Vermont and Virginia expanded existing credits. Meanwhile, Connecticut, New York and Oregon provided one-time boosts to their EITC-eligible populations.
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brief September 15, 2022 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.
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media mention August 23, 2022 The New Republic: How Red States Use Regressive Grocery Taxes to Feed the Rich
Conservative state legislatures are using pandemic-era surpluses to give tax cuts for the wealthy while maintaining unfair flat taxes that punish the poor. Read more. -
media mention August 18, 2022 The Progressive: Finding Cash for Kids
Congress failed to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit, which cut childhood poverty by nearly a third. Now, states are adopting their own versions. Read more. -
media mention May 17, 2022 The New York Times: State Lawmakers, Step Up and Govern
Below is an excerpt of a letter to the editor by Aidan Davis: The overarching theme that ties most of them together is that they are a default reaction among… -
media mention March 28, 2022 New York Times: What Retirement Means for Your Taxes
Many states exempt retirement income, although the specifics vary widely. Eight states have no personal income tax, but among those that do, about three-quarters fully exempt Social Security benefits from… -
blog March 2, 2022 SOTU and GOP Response Highlight Dramatic Difference in Parties’ Tax Policy Approach
Since last year, multiple states across the country have proposed or are pursuing costly income and other tax cuts that are heavily tilted toward the highest-income households. State advocates have worked to beat back these proposals and sounded the alarm about the long-term consequences of tax cuts, but legislatures (most GOP-led) continue to introduce and approve top-heavy and permanent tax cuts. This state tax-cut fervor took center stage last night when Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa gave the Republican response to President Biden’s SOTU address.
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media mention February 10, 2022 CNBC: 1 in 3 young adults will see an average $800 tax credit boost this year
For the 37% of workers 19 to 24 who are now eligible to receive the credit, the expansion will mean an average boost of $820, according to a study from… -
blog February 8, 2022 More Than One in Three Young Workers Would Benefit from EITC Reforms in Build Back Better Plan
Although the EITC expansion did not receive as much attention as the expanded Child Tax Credit, a new ITEP report shows the positive impact of allowing young workers without children in the home to maintain access to one of the nation’s most significant and effective anti-poverty programs.
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report February 8, 2022 Federal EITC Enhancements Help More Than One in Three Young Workers
More than one in three young adults would benefit from workers without children being eligible to receive the federal EITC. This policy change would bolster young adults’ economic security.
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media mention February 4, 2022 Newsweek: States’ Pursuit of Top-Heavy Tax Cuts Is Disconnected from Reality
The following is an excerpt of an opEd by Aidan Davis, ITEP senior policy analyst, and Neva Butkus, policy analyst, published on Feb. 4 in Newsweek: One report after another… -
media mention February 3, 2022 CBS News: Millions of low-income Americans eligible for tax refund boost this year
Meanwhile, the bigger credit comes at a welcome time for many Americans, as roaring inflation consumes most of low-wage workers’ pay gains. “While these folks without dependent children may not… -
blog January 10, 2022 Investing in a Joint Future: Harnessing State Tax Codes
Rather than resorting to tax cuts, which can eventually create revenue shortfalls, lawmakers should determine whether they have adequately invested in people and communities. There are better ways to leverage tax systems to help those who need it most.
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blog November 18, 2021 Tax Credit Reforms in Build Back Better Would Benefit a Diverse Group of Families
The CTC and EITC provisions would have a particularly profound effect on the poorest 20 percent of Americans, who all will have incomes of less than $22,000 in 2022. Taken together, the EITC and CTC changes would lift the average income of these households by more than 10 percent.
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brief October 21, 2021 Boosting Incomes and Improving Tax Equity with State Earned Income Tax Credits in 2021
The EITC benefits low-income people of all races and ethnicities. But it is particularly impactful in historically excluded Black and Hispanic communities where discrimination in the labor market, inequitable educational systems, and countless other inequities have relegated a disproportionate share of people to low-wage jobs.
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media mention September 14, 2021 Boston Now: Housing, commuting and medical care pushes 9.4% of Bay Staters into poverty, Census data shows
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also pointed to the stimulus payments as a reason why there was no commensurate spike in poverty in 2020 to go with the… -
media mention September 14, 2021 Houston Chronicle: Stimulus checks saved many from poverty, Census data show
“At the start of the health and economic crisis, we knew that we needed deep government investments to alleviate widespread hardship,” said Aidan Davis, a senior policy analyst at the… -
media mention September 14, 2021 CNBC: House Democrats push for permanent EITC expansion
A permanent expansion may cost $135 billion over the next decade, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates. If enacted, the increased credit may provide $12.4 billion to families in 2022, affecting… -
blog September 13, 2021 A Data-Driven Case for the CTC Expansion in the Ways & Means Committee’s Recent Proposal
The move toward permanent full refundability and inclusion of all immigrant children are crucial components of the future of the CTC. Together they will help ensure that the credit reaches the children most in need, making a vital dent in our nation’s unacceptably high rate of child poverty.
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blog September 13, 2021 Extending Federal EITC Enhancements Would Bolster the Effects of State-Level Credits
The EITC expansion targets workers without children in the home. In 2022 it would provide a $12.4 billion boost, benefiting 19.5 million workers who on average would receive an income boost of $730 dollars.
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July 30, 2021 Child Tax Credit Expansion Acknowledges There Is More We Can Do for Children “Decades of public policies have built inequities into our economic system, yet some political leaders and public… -
media mention July 27, 2021 CNBC: Stimulus checks and child tax credit payments help prompt calls to expand another credit benefitting workers
The stimulus checks and monthly child tax credit payments have helped increase the understanding of how money can serve as a tool to help people who are struggling, he said.… -
blog July 20, 2021 Child Tax Credit Expansion Acknowledges There Is More We Can Do for Children
For the next six months, low-, middle- and upper-middle-income families with children are eligible to receive part of their 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) in advanced monthly payments. More than putting money in people’s pockets, this policy recognizes “the dignity of working-class families and middle-class families,” as President Biden said last week.
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media mention July 15, 2021 Yahoo! Money: Millions of American families plan for ‘life-changing’ Child Tax Credit payments
“This is super targeted to lower income families,” Aidan Davis, senior policy analyst at the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), told Yahoo Money. “The families that are being…