Economy

Proposed Child Tax Credit From Nebraska to Give Up to $1,000

Aman Jain

Published: January 12, 2023 10:02 pm

Nebraska families could soon be able to claim a child tax credit if a new proposal is approved. A new bill introduced in the state legislature on Wednesday calls for a child tax credit of up to $1,000 from Nebraska that covers about 81% of the state’s children.

Who Will Get The Child Tax Credit From Nebraska?

State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln introduced Legislative Bill 294 on Wednesday, offering a refundable tax credit of up to $1,000 per child to families between certain income levels. Conrad’s bill doesn’t place any limit on the number of children a family could claim the credit for.

Families with income up to $75,000 for single filers (up to $92,500 for heads of households and $122,500 for married couples filing jointly) would be able to claim the full $1,000 credit. Families with income above that threshold will receive reduced amounts, depending on their income level.

Conrad believes the child tax credit from Nebraska would help recipients offset some of the impact of inflation. Further, she noted that the federal tax credit’s contribution to reducing child poverty and food insecurity speaks well about why the child tax credit from Nebraska is a good measure.

“This child tax credit would be a proven way to help Nebraska families manage through our current high rates of inflation,” Conrad said in a statement. “Given our state’s healthy fiscal condition, this would be an outstanding time to enact this policy and provide needed support to hundreds of thousands of Nebraska residents.”

According to Census Bureau data released last year, the enhanced federal child tax credit helped cut the number of children living in poverty by nearly half in 2021. About 5.2% of children were in poverty in 2021, compared to 9.7% the year before.

More States Enacting Child Tax Credits

Conrad’s bill also requires the state’s Department of Revenue to release an annual report detailing the number of taxpayers who claimed the credit and a breakdown of the claimants by race and ethnicity. The report should also state the income levels of the taxpayers who claimed the credit, the number of children lifted out of poverty, and any issues families faced in claiming the credit.

The report should also give the number of eligible families who didn’t claim the child tax credit from Nebraska. Nebraska’s Department of Revenue is required to submit the report annually on July 15.

Nebraska will become the tenth state with a child tax credit if Conrad’s proposal is passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jim Pillen. Other states with similar credit programs include Colorado, New Mexico, New York, California, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Idaho and Oklahoma. Utah and Montana are considering similar legislation as well.

This article originally appeared on ValueWalk