Let’s Honor Our Veterans This July 4th by Expanding These Tax Credits
By Abbey Pizel
What do you picture when you think about the 4th of July in Colorado? Flags, Fireworks with family, cookouts on the back porch, and spending time outdoors probably all come to mind. And if you’re planning on celebrating, you won’t be alone. Millions of people in the United States will spend billions of dollars on their Independence Day celebrations this year according to WalletHub.
But in addition to celebrating the day we officially declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, many of us use the holiday as an opportunity to pay tribute to veterans, active duty military members, and their families. Like many families in the US, some veterans don’t have the resources to meet basic needs like paying the rent, putting food on the table, being able to see a doctor, and giving their children a better start in life with quality early childhood education.
This 4th of July, while we can never fully repay the debt we owe military members, veterans, and their families, Congress has an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the thousands of people who bravely put their lives on the line and give up the things we take for granted by serving. The Working Families Tax Relief Act (WFTRA), sponsored by Senators Sherrod Brown, Richard Durbin, Ron Wyden, and Colorado’s own Michael Bennet, would give a much-needed boost to qualifying active-duty military and working veterans’ incomes by substantially expanding two federal tax credits – the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).
Both the EITC and the CTC have proven to be two of the most effective ways of fighting poverty. In 2017, the EITC lifted about 5.7 million people out of poverty, including about 3 million children, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. In 2017, the average EITC was $3,191 for families with children, increasing their income by more than $250 every month. For families struggling to make ends meet, an added boost like this can make a huge difference. In Colorado, about 364,000 people are lifted out of poverty because of this credit. Similarly, the CTC lifts 250,000 Colorado children out of poverty. When combined with the EITC, the CTC is an even more powerful tool for helping families build a strong future.
WFTRA would expand the EITC for families with children by roughly 25 percent. It also strengthens the credit for workers who earn low incomes whether they’re raising children or not. The act makes the CTC fully refundable, meaning families benefit from the credit whether they owe income taxes or not. That means the families who need it most are getting resources they need.
Of the over 400,000 veterans and 34,000 active-duty military members who choose to make Colorado home, nearly 20% are living paycheck to paycheck, according to analysis by the Center for American Progress. WFTRA would boot incomes for these veterans and their families, allowing them to move out of poverty. Similarly, a veteran single mother with two children earning $20,00 a year would see an increase in her EITC by about $1,460 and her Child Tax Credit by $2,210, for a combined gain of about $3,670. For these families, having to worry about how they will make rent, buy groceries, and pay for child care while they balance re-establishing themselves in civilian life or the challenges of active-duty make life even more difficult. WFTRA would help hundreds of thousands of Colorado families and individuals, including tens of thousands of veterans and active-duty military families. Providing these families with a modest boost in income helps honor the sacrifices they make. The people who serve our country and our communities, whether they serve in the military, teach our children, serve as first responders, or perform any of the other important service jobs that help make our country, states, and communities great places to live, should be able to do more than just get by. WFTRA will help them get ahead.
WFTRA lessens the challenges working veterans and military families face every day. This 4th of July, as you spend time with your family or watch a firework show, we urge you to think about the sacrifices military veterans and their families have made to allow us to enjoy this holiday. WFTRA is one way that we can show our thanks.
