Happy EITC Awareness Day! Friday, January 29th is the day to make sure families and communities know the good news about their taxes this year (yes, tax season can bring good news!). http://www.eitc.irs.gov/ptoolkit/awarenessday/
Thanks to the Recovery Act passed by President Obama and Congress last year, more money is available to more families this year when they file their tax returns (see the attached Fact Sheet for more details). For example:
1. Working families with income under $48,000 can get up to $5,657 refunded for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), depending on their income and family size. New this year: larger refund for families with more than 2 kids.
2. Working families can also get more of a Child Tax Credit ($1000 per kid), with income now as low as $3000.
3. Workers should already have received – and can still claim – the new $400 Make Work Pay credit, via additional money in their paycheck all last year.
4. People seeking more education and training in this economy can claim more through the renamed and expanded America Opportunity credit (formerly the HOPE credit).
5. Child care remains deductible, too, through the Child and Dependent Care Credit.
This money obviously helps families get by and even save to get ahead – 60% of all returns claiming the credit are filed in February, as families file early to access money they can use right now for their rent, bills, food, and other needs. This money also helps local economies, as it increases some spending. And it helps government, as families’ boosted income leads to more sales tax revenue and less need for services. In fact, the federal Tax Credits for working families, combined with SNAP/Food Stamps (see previous blog post on the Recovery Act), are the major policy investments that lift families above the poverty line. But, it’s estimated that 20-25% of eligible families don’t claim their credits, and others who do file lose part of their refund to paid preparers.
and California First Lady Maria Shriver’s “We Connect” campaign. http://www.weconnect.net/money.html Several sites were fortunate to receive grants for outreach and assistance from CA’s Recovery Act funds for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG). An additional number of CA sites won federal grants for outreach and assistance (and, in a good sign, many more applied and won than last year, when the program debuted). Nonetheless, promotion is largely under-resourced and more needs to be done to get the word out.
There’s a lot you can do to spread the good word. Share the fact sheet and links here with community based groups and congregations. Download and link to the terrific tool kits on outreach and partnerships (including flyers in two dozen languages) from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities at www.cbpp.org/eic2010 . And, remember, these tax credits are set to last for this filing season and next (covering tax years 2009 and 2010) – but then expire. Advocacy will be needed by all of us to ensure this successful investment in working families and our economy continues.
One final piece of good news on this front: keep a lookout for the first-ever state conference on tax credits for providers and advocates, coming to the LA area in late May. The conference is being organized by the Cal-Neva Community Action Partnership, in conjunction with the state Department of Community Services and Development – details to be announced shortly. Hope to see you there!
Kim McCoy Wade