Arkansas

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Arkansas does not currently offer a state-level EITC.

Last Legislative Action:

In 2017, a bill that would have created a state-level EITC made it through a committee vote in the House, but the bill ultimately failed to gain approval of the full House.

Notes:

  • In 2015, legislators introduced a bill to create a state EITC, but the measure failed to pass a committee vote.1
  • On March 30, 2011, the Arkansas governor signed into law HB 1056, which created a credit for Heads of Households with two or more dependents, thus exempting all families below the poverty line from paying state income taxes. This closed a loophole in legislation enacted in 2007 to ensure no working poor family had to pay state taxes.

Child Tax Credit (CTC)

Arkansas does not currently offer a state-level CTC.

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC)

Rate (Fully Refundable):

  • 20% of federal CDCTC

Eligibility Requirements: All filers who qualify for the federal CDCTC are eligible for the state credit.

Notes:

  • Taxpayers claim the credit by completing line 39 of form AR1000 and attaching a copy of their federal child and dependent care credit form.
  • The refundable credit is only available for care of a child under age six in an “approved child care facility.”

Source:

1HB1344, Arkansas State Legislature
2A.C.A. § 26-51-502, 2010 Arkansas Code

For More State Information

Laura Kellams, Northwest Arkansas Director
Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

www.aradvocates.org
(479) 927-9800
lkellams@aradvocates.org