For Immediate Release: Friday
, January 30, 2009
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer or Mary Robbins, 202-588-5180
CAMPAIGN AIMS TO INFORM FAMILIES
ABOUT TAX CREDITS
In Tough Economic Times, Eligible Families Should Claim Tax Credits
(Washington, D.C.) The National Women’s Law Center and partner organizations in several states are launching an aggressive tax credits outreach campaign today to ensure that more low- and moderate-income families are aware of and claim available federal and state income tax credits.
“Families are facing incredible economic pressures, and can’t afford to leave this money on the table,” said Nancy Duff Campbell, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center. “Many low-income families fail to take advantage of these credits simply because they are unaware they exist.”
These credits may be worth up to thousands of dollars to eligible families and can help offset the cost of child care and other expenses. And this tax filing season, about 13 million children could benefit from an expanded Child Tax Credit – including the almost three million newly eligible children in low-income families – as a result of a change enacted last year.
As part of the NWLC campaign, state child care organizations, social service providers, and advocates will work to educate families about valuable federal tax benefits as well as the tax benefits for families that may be available in their states. The launch of the campaign coincides with Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day, an effort of the Internal Revenue Service to inform the public about the Earned Income Tax Credit and the requirements to claim the credit.
Organizations participating in the NWLC campaign will be making sure families with children or other dependents know that they may be eligible for:
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Up to $2,100 from the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, designed to offset some of the child and dependent care costs that families pay in order to work.
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Up to $1,000 per child from the federal Child Tax Credit, intended to help families offset some of the costs of raising children. Even families who owe little or no income tax can receive at least some of this credit as a refund if they have at least $8,500 in earnings in 2008 (down from the $12,050 needed to qualify for tax year 2007).
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Up to $4,824 from the Earned Income Tax Credit, which helps provide a wage supplement to eligible families, and is available as a refund for those families that owe little or no income tax.
Some states offer their own credits as well: Twenty-eight states, including the District of Columbia, offer child and dependent care tax provisions, 23 states offer earned income tax credits and two states offer child tax credits. NWLC has developed an online resource for parents and advocates with user-friendly fliers about both the federal credits and individual states’ tax provisions. Materials are available in Spanish and other languages. To learn more about federal and state tax credits, visit www.nwlc.org/LowerYourTaxes.
“These credits can go a long way toward helping low-income families make ends meet, but families must claim the credits when they file their tax returns,” Campbell said. “Our hope is that the materials we have made available will help more families learn about the benefits of these tax credits.”
Child care advocates in California, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Oregon are working with NWLC on intensive state-level campaigns. In most of these states, families are eligible for state tax credits even if they do not owe state income tax. Advocates are reaching out to inform families about the available tax credits and sites that provide free tax preparation services.
For more information on advocacy efforts at the state level, please contact:
California
Patty Siegel, California Child Care Resource & Referral Network, (415) 882-0234
Iowa
Victor Elias, Child and Family Policy Center, (515) 280-9027
Minnesota
Ann McCully, Minnesota Child Care Resources and Referral Network, (651) 290-9704 ext. 115
New Mexico
Gerry Bradley, New Mexico Voices for Children, 505-244-9505 ext. 23
New York
Carol Saginaw, New York State Child Care Coordinating Council, (518) 690-4217
Ohio
Judith Santmire, Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association, (614) 396-5959 ext. 312
Oregon
Chuck Sheketoff, Oregon Center for Public Policy, (503) 873-1201
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The National Women's Law Center is a non-profit organization that has been working since 1972 to advance and protect women's legal rights. The Center focuses on major policy areas of importance to women and their families including economic security, education, employment and health, with special attention given to the concerns of low-income women. For more information on the Center, visit: www.nwlc.org.
