Earlier today, the Assembly Appropriations Committee unanimously passed A6071, making the state Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable so that low-income residents can receive a cash refund if the credit amount is in excess of their gross income tax liability. In response to A6071 advancing out of committee, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) releases the following statement.
Peter Chen, Senior Policy Analyst, NJPP:
“Expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit will help more low- and middle-income families and their children meet the back-breaking costs of child care. Among low-income households nationally, average child care expenses eat up 34 percent of income.
“However, this legislation is only a first step towards meeting the broad range of costs facing families with children requiring care. Lower-income families with children spend a higher percentage of their income on child care and should receive a fairer share of the tax credit’s benefits. Child care assistance should more broadly reflect the financial needs of families, as well as covering informal child care, which makes up the bulk of non-parent child care.
“New Jersey families can’t wait for relief from high child care costs, and a more equitable Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is a good start. But a one-year bill will continue to treat child care expenses as one-off extraordinary events, rather than a core part of any family raising children in New Jersey.”
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