Tax Credits

You may have already received your W-2 in the mail from your employer, which means (drum roll please!) the 2012 tax filing season is officially underway. In the spirit of the season, so to speak, the IRS is kicking things off with EITC Awareness Day. In case you aren’t familiar with the EITC, aka the Earned Income Tax Credit, it is a refundable federal tax credit for working families that can be worth up to $5,751 for tax year 2011 (the year for which you’ll be filing your taxes now, in 2012). Along with the federal Child Tax Credit (a refundable credit worth up to $1,000 per child) and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (a nonrefundable credit that helps families with child and dependent care costs incurred in order to work or look for work), as well as analogous state tax credits, the EITC can provide working families a significant financial boost.  And in these tough economic times, families need all the help they can get. Read more »

Each year we partner with advocates and community leaders across the country to conduct a public education campaign aimed at informing families about state and federal tax benefits for which they may be eligible. This year, the tax credits available to low- and moderate-income families are more valuable than ever.

With your help, families could receive:

• Up to $5,751 from the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Up to $1,000 per child from the federal Child Tax Credit.
• Up to $2,100 from the federal Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.

And many states offer their own versions of these credits as well! Read more »

Yesterday marked the last day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. So it seems appropriate that yesterday the Center filed comments in response to proposed regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that could make a crucial difference for women struggling to survive domestic abuse.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four women in the United States will be a victim of domestic violence in her lifetime. Historically, survivors of domestic violence have often been charged higher rates for health insurance or denied coverage outright – but the ACA helps provide domestic violence survivors with the care they need by prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage based on “conditions arising out of acts of domestic violence.” Read more »