National Women's Law Center

Making Care Less Taxing:

Improving State Child and Dependent Care Tax Provisions

Making Care Less Taxing: Improving State Child and Dependent Care Tax Provisions

This essential report provides recommendations for state policymakers and advocates on ways to develop the best tax policies for families that must pay for costly child and dependent care to be gainfully employed. It also provides a review and analysis of all state child and dependent care tax provisions in effect for tax year 2005.

Update — Get the Latest News About Child and Dependent Care Tax Credits:

Memorandum on Developments in Federal and State Child Care Tax Provisions in 2008
(Click here for memorandum)
This report examines tax-based approaches for financing child care at both the state and federal levels.

2009 Supplement to Appendix A Making Care Less Taxing
(Click here for chart)This chart is a supplement to Appendix A Making Care Less Taxing. It describes the developments that have occurred since the January 2008 update.

Memorandum on Developments in Federal and State Child Care Tax Provisions in 2007
(Click here for memorandum)
This report examines tax-based approaches for financing child care at both the state and federal levels.

2008 Supplement to Appendix A Making Care Less Taxing
(Click here for chart)
This chart is a supplement to Appendix A Making Care Less Taxing. It describes the developments that have occurred since the January 2007 update.

Making the Grade for Care

(Click here for full Report Card)

This state-by-state report card, a companion piece to Making Care Less Taxing, ranks 31 tax provisions in 27 states based on the tax assistance they provide to working families with child and dependent care expenses in tax year 2005.

NWLC Report Card Finds Many States Increased Tax Assistance for Child and Dependent Care Expenses—But Many More Improvements Are Needed, Says NWLC

Families in 23 states were eligible for some increased tax assistance in meeting the high costs of child and dependent care, thanks to improvements in these states’ child and dependent care tax provisions over the past four years. Nevertheless, there is still vast room for improvement, with most state tax provisions receiving grades of C+ to F on NWLC’s companion report card. (Click here for full Press Release)

Making the Grade for Care: State Press Releases