No Child Tax Credit Equality for Puerto Rico in Congressional Tax Plans
The expansive Republican rewrite of the federal tax code being voted on in the House of Representatives this week contains a provision to increase the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to $1,600 per child in the fifty states. While under consideration by the Ways and Means Committee, two amendments were introduced to expand the child tax credit fully to Puerto Rico. Both were rejected.
The first amendment, by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), would have expanded the Child Tax Credit nationally for families with young child; the second amendment, by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), contained its CTC extension to Puerto Rico in a broader tax package of help for Hurricane disaster recovery. Neither amendment was accepted by the Ways and Means Committee and, as a result, are not included in the bill expected to be approved this week.
The new subsection would have done just one thing. It would have allowed American families in Puerto Rico to use the Child Tax Credit for their first or second child as American families do in all 50 states. At present, Puerto Rican families cannot use this credit until they have three children or more.
The Child Tax Credit currently allows families to receive up to $1,000 as a refundable credit, even if they have no tax liabilities. That is, families that don’t pay federal income tax are eligible to receive as much as $1,000 as a “refund” under this credit.
Read more: https://www.puertoricoreport.com/no-child-tax-credit-equality-puerto-rico-congressional-tax-plans/#.Wgy7ynlrzRY