Virginia Parents, Legislators to Call for Passage of Economic Relief in Budget
Parents to Detail Need for Earned Income Tax Credit in Proposed Budget
Virginia parents will detail their personal stories and call for the passage of a refundable Earned Income Tax Credit during a virtual press conference on Thursday at 10 AM.
Parents will be joined by legislators in support of a fully refundable Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which was proposed in the Senate budget released this week. About 600,000 Virginia families are eligible for the EITC, a tax break for lower-income families. The Senate proposal would provide an average tax break of $500 to families who qualify for refundability – which disproportionately impacts parents living paycheck-to-paycheck.
The parents will join Sen. George Barker (Fairfax), who has been a leading advocate for including the full refundability of the EITC in the budget.
Details:
Parents, Legislators Call for Earned Income Tax Credit
Thursday, February 24, 2022
10 AM
Sen. George Barker, Emily Griffey, Voices for Virginia’s Children, Brandy Ferguson (Franklin), Tyran Green (Portsmouth), Sayyeda Hall (Richmond), Miriam Meeker (Va Beach), Tieshea Moses (Goochland), Crystal Songer, (Franklin), Alisa Thornton (Prince William)
An EITC refundability calculator from The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis is available here.
Working families with low incomes in Virginia pay more in state and local taxes as a share of their income than high-income Virginians. Households making under $22,000 a year pay, on average, 9.9% of their income in state and local taxes. But households that earn at least $587,000 a year pay only 7.1% of their income in state and local taxes.
The state EITC, along with the federal EITC, helps balance out this contribution. They both can reduce or eliminate the amount of income taxes owed by a person with low income. But, unlike the federal credit, if a taxpayer’s state credit is more than the amount of income taxes they owe, they can’t get the rest in a tax refund to help offset other state and local taxes they pay. That means working families with low incomes are stuck paying a greater share of their income in state and local taxes like sales and property taxes than wealthier households. An improved state credit could help to address Virginia’s upside-down tax code and provide financial relief for families hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
