White House Eyes Child Tax Credit Expansion
By Devin Simpson
Following a recent meeting between Ivanka Trump, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and other lawmakers, administration officials indicated that the White House plans to take action to expand the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) as part of broader tax reform.
Ivanka Trump has been working closely with Senate Republicans to cultivate legislation that benefits working families. In early 2015, Sens. Rubio and Mike Lee (R-Ut.) released a tax plan for “economic growth and family fairness” that included creating an additional CTC worth up to $2,500 per qualifying child. However, advocates for low-wage workers quickly noted that the proposal would disproportionately benefit those with higher incomes: the additional CTC would only be partially refundable, limited to the sum of total income and payroll tax liabilities, and unlike the existing CTC, the credit would not phase out as incomes rise beyond a certain threshold.
It’s now likely that a similar CTC proposal will be included in an upcoming plan from the White House’s National Economic Council. According to a White House official, “Allies on and off the Hill have said that enhancing the Child Tax Credit will best achieve President Trump’s promise to increase working families’ flexibility.”
For updates on this proposal and other tax credit legislation, follow TCWF on Twitter @TaxCreditsWF.