These tax credits could save California families billions of dollars. Spread the word
While at a Family Resource Fair in Fresno last year, I met a mother of four named Veronica. She had just received money back from the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), and this extra income was going to be a game changer for her. She told me she planned to use it to buy a car, ending her commute on multiple buses to classes at the local community college, giving her more time with her children – and more time to study.
Like so many working moms, Veronica is the backbone of her family, and of her larger community. But too many Californians like her are also struggling – trying to juggle raising children, often on their own, while working multiple jobs, and perhaps even attending school in the hope of eventually landing a better paying job.
California believes that putting money back into the pockets of folks like Veronica is an investment, and not just in our families and communities. It’s also down payment on our collective future – our economic security and social stability.
Since that afternoon in Fresno, California has made massive investments to help Californians fighting for financial survival. We expanded the CalEITC in a big way by increasing the income eligibility to $30,000. We created a new Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) that could mean up to an additional $1,000 for families with children under the age of six. Together, these programs could deliver up to $1 billion to working families this tax year alone.
In total, three million California households are expected to benefit from the expansion. This will help approximately seven million people, including as many as one million children.
These tax credits are transformative. Research compiled by the Budget Center shows children from families that receive larger credits from the EITC have better health outcomes, perform better in school, are more likely to attend college and go on to have higher earnings as adults. For many Californians, their tax refund is the single largest cash infusion they receive all year.
Yet not enough families are taking advantage of this benefit. In fact, the mothers I met in Fresno shared that, while this benefit had helped them tremendously, many of their friends, neighbors and colleagues hadn’t filed their taxes at all, wary of costly commercial tax preparation services and unaware that free help is available.
That’s why I’m once again partnering with the community partners like CalEITC4Me to spread the word about the CalEITC and the Young Child Tax Credit. We need Californians to know what these tax credits are, the impact they can have on their families and how and where to claim the credit – for free!
Since the vast majority of people who are eligible for the CalEITC are not required to file taxes, it’s critical to increase awareness that this money is available simply by choosing to file.
So help me spread the word, and together, let’s invest in California’s families. The future of California depends on it.
To learn more, visit CalEITC4Me.org, or text ‘EITC’ to 555-888.Jennifer Siebel Newsom is the First Partner of the State of California, filmmaker and founder of the Representation Project, and a mother of four.
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 5:00 AM.