Working family tax credits help Ohio's military families
Posted July 02, 2013 in Press Releases
Download releaseThe Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit help working families make ends meet. Congress must protect our military families by protecting these tax credits in the months ahead.
About 55,000 veteran and active-duty military families in Ohio receive the federal Earned Income Tax Credit or the low-income component of the Child Tax Credit, according to a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Policy Matters Ohio is releasing the report in Ohio.
“Ohio’s troops and veterans have made incredible sacrifices, and we have a duty to make sure they can provide for their families,” said Hannah Halbert of Policy Matters Ohio. “Working family tax credits like the EITC and CTC are part of fulfilling that duty.”
Nationally, about 1.5 million military families, including about 3 million children under age 18, received one or both of the credits. The credits make a major difference to their economic security, keeping 140,000 military families with nearly 300,000 children from falling below the poverty line. The credits also help working families with incomes modestly above the poverty line that still struggle with basic expenses like housing, school clothes, car repairs, and groceries.
Only people who are working can claim the credits, which were slightly expanded in recent years so they provide more help to more families. On average the credit amounts to $1,000 per household from the low-income portion of the Child Tax Credit in 2011 and $2,650 from the EITC.
“The Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit help working families make ends meet,” said Halbert. “Congress must protect our military families by protecting these tax credits in the months ahead.”
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Policy Matters Ohio is a nonprofit, nonpartisan state policy research institute with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ full report, “Working-Family Tax Credits Help Over One Million Military Families” can be found at: www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3986.