Originial Source: Fredericksburg.com
BY ADRIENNE ROSS/RAPPAHANNOCK UNITED WAY
The days are getting shorter and the nights longer—sure-fire signs the holiday season is upon us. We all know how stressful this time of year can be, between feeding the extra guests, dealing with the unexpected car repairs that come with winter and higher heating bills. But for some in the Fredericksburg area, this pressure is a reality all year long.
At the Rappahannock United Way, we work with families every day who are simply trying to meet their most basic needs—food on the table, gas in the tank and clothes on their little ones’ backs. And in our experience, the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit are tools that help these families better provide for their children and achieve greater self-sufficiency. The EITC and CTC are among some of our nation’s strongest tools to promote work and help working families build a more secure future.
But these credits are in jeopardy because Congress faces a deadline to pass a stop-gap spending bill, or continuing resolution, that would give lawmakers more time to pass a fiscal 2016 omnibus appropriations package. Budget negotiators could work through the weekend. And it’s crucial that EITC and CTC are part of the budget bill.
As part of Rappahannock United Way programs connecting individuals to free income tax preparation assistance, we’ve seen firsthand the difference these credits can make in the lives of working people in our community. In 2015, the Rappahannock United Way Free Tax Program filed more than 1,700 tax returns for low- to middle-income households. More than 40 percent of the households served qualified for the Earned Income or Child Tax Credits, which helped bring nearly $1 million back into our community.
Of those families, it is Melissa’s family that sticks with me the most. She came to a Rappahannock United Way Free Tax Site to file her 2014 income tax return. She had never heard of our program and was nearly in tears out of gratitude to receive free assistance with her tax return. She had lost her job several weeks earlier and did not have money to pay someone to file her taxes. In fact, she was out of money. She was behind on her rent and she and her young son were on the verge of homelessness.
Despite her efforts, Melissa had not been able to find a job. When our volunteer tax preparer told her that she qualified for EITC and CTC, and would receive a refund, she burst into tears. The amount was enough to catch up her rent and cover her expenses for a few more weeks until she could find another job.
Now, imagine if Melissa didn’t have the extra income from these tax credits. After using the funds to cover her basic expenses, all it would take is one emergency—a broken-down car or an unexpected medical expense—and Melissa’s family would quickly be plunged into a downward spiral, or even homelessness. That’s why it’s so important for Congress to make key provisions of the EITC and CTC permanent. In Virginia alone, 486,000 children in 284,000 of the state’s working families would lose part or all of these tax credits if Congress allows the clock to run out on these provisions. What’s more, 34,000 of Virginia’s veteran and military families would lose some or all of their credits. We simply cannot, and should not, stand for that.
The loss would be a devastating blow to working people in our region and our local economy. Research finds that children in families who get an income boost from the EITC and CTC are healthier and do better in school than kids whose families struggle to get by without these supports. In addition, children whose families receive the credits have higher school test scores and are more likely to go to college and to work and earn more as adults.
Virginians can’t afford for Congress to turn its back on working families. Congress has a chance to make these EITC and CTC provisions permanent this year as part of legislation addressing tax credits for businesses. It’s up to us to tell our elected officials to fight for hard-working people and ensure they are not left behind in the current debate over tax policy.
And while it is at it, Congress should fill a glaring hole in the EITC for low-wage working adults and young people starting out who are largely excluded from this important tax credit. These workers, without claimable dependents, are the only group actually taxed into poverty, and part of the reason is because they are ineligible for the EITC or receive such a small amount from the credit.
Let’s make this year the one in which these proven, cost-effective policies are made permanent, so that working families across our great state know their hard work will be rewarded. Because protecting the tools these families have to build a better future is the best holiday gift we can ask for.
Adrienne Ross is the financial stability manager of Rappahannock United Way.