2018 Was Another Great Year for State-Level Tax Credits

In recent years, tax credits for working families have made significant progress at the state level, and this past year was no exception. 2018 saw Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansions in five states and the enactment of new Child Tax Credits in two states. Bills to enact or expand tax credits for working families made progress in dozens of other state legislatures. And in December, in a widely-supported move to help the Commonwealth reduce high poverty rates, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo
 Rosselló signed a tax relief package into law that would enact a local EITC.

Successful state-level EITC expansions in 2018 included:

  • California expanded the CalEITC to single filers between the ages of 18 and 24 and older than 65.
  • Louisiana expanded its credit from 3.5 to 5 percent of the federal credit.
  • Maryland eliminated the minimum age requirement for its EITC, which expanded eligibility to nearly 40,000 younger workers.
  • Massachusetts expanded its credit from 23 to 30 percent of the federal credit. 
  • New Jersey expanded its credit from 35 to 40 percent of the federal credit.
  • Vermont expanded its credit from 32 to 36 percent of the federal credit.

To learn more about the 2018 EITC campaigns in California, Louisiana and Maryland, read TCWF’s case studies. Working on an EITC campaign this year? Tell us about it here. Let’s work together to keep the EITC momentum going in 2019.