CITIZENS FOR TAX JUSTICE: 'Bush leaves one in four children behind'
ctj.org
Citizens for Tax Justice 1311 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 202-626-3780
THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2003, 2 PAGES CONTACT: Bob McIntyre
Bush Tax Plan’s Child Credit Boost Leaves Behind One in Four of America’s Children
The highly-touted temporary increase in the per-child tax credit to $1,000 for 2003 and 2004 will provide no benefit to one out of four families with children under 17, because they do not earn enough to qualify for the aid.
A state-by-state analysis of the effects of the child credit by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds:
# 9.2 million families with children under 17 will get zero benefit from the boost in the child credit. (Many other families will get far less than the full $400 increase per child.)
# The families with zero help represent 25 percent of America’s families with children under 17 who are not otherwise disqualified by the phase-out of the credit at upper-income levels.
# More than 16 million children under age 17 live in families getting nothing from the child credit increase ecause of their low earnings.
By state, the percentage of families getting nothing from the child credit increase is as high as 40 percent, in Mississippi. The table to the right shows the ten states with the highest percentage of ineligible families. The Senate version of the Bush tax plan would have extended the benefits of the child credit to many now ineligible families. That feature was dropped from the bill, however, to make room for larger reductions in taxes on the wealthy.
10 States with the Highest Percentage of Families Not Helped by the Increase in the Child Credit
State % of families not helped
Mississippi 40%
Louisiana 39%
New Mexico 36%
West Virginia 32%
Alabama 31%
Arkansas 31%
California 31%
District of Columbia 30%
New York 29%
South Carolina 29%
|
