The House of Representatives approved legislation on Friday that was introduced by Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.) to expand and update the child tax credit.
The Child Tax Credit Improvement Act would index the child tax credit to inflation, eliminate the marriage penalty and provide relief to families that face rising parenting costs, according to a press release.
“When working families succeed, the nation’s economy succeeds,” Jenkins said. “I applaud the House for passing sensible legislation to help families keep more of their hard-earned money to use for the mounting expenses of parenting. I urge the Senate to follow the House’s lead by taking up this important bill that will have real results to improve the quality of life for working families.”
Under the bill, the income phase out for joint filers would be increased from $110,000 to $150,000 to strike down the marriage penalty. The measure would also index both the $1,000 credit and the income phase outs for inflation.
“The lack of indexing of a particular provision to inflation means that a provision is worth a little bit less to taxpayers every year,” Jenkins said. “In the case of the child tax credit, this means working low- and middle-class families. This legislation essentially removes the annual hidden tax placed on these families and recognizes that a dollar of income in 1998, and in 2004, is not the same as a dollar of income in 2014.”
Jenkins said a two-parent household with three kids face $30,000 in expenses for food, transportation, clothing, child care and education each year, according to USDA estimates.
“This is sensible legislation that will help hardworking families keep more of their paychecks and help pay for the rising costs of raising a family,” Jenkins said. “A vote for this bill will give Americans more freedom to save their own money, and help struggling families who are just trying to get by.”