Tax relief for working families, through the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The EITC is the most effective anti-poverty initiative in the public policy toolbox, according to many tax experts.  It helps to offset the unfairly large tax responsibility borne by low-income families.  On average, the poorest Illinois households spend twice as much of their incomes on state and local taxes than the wealthiest Illinoisans do. 

The EITC is available only to families earning less than about $40,000, and only households with working members. Thus, it helps to reward the efforts of people who work hard and play by the rules, but have relatively little to show for it.  Families typically use their credit money to cover such important expenses as housing, utility bills, car repairs and community college tuition.

Like 21 other states, Illinois has a state-level EITC that piggybacks on top of a much larger, federal EITC to provide families with extra tax assistance.  However, Illinois’ state EITC is limited to about $230 or less for qualifying households, but reaches about $1,900 or more in such states as Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

The newest EITC law helps many families to receive a portion of the credit assistance that had been withheld from them for several years.  But we still need to increase the overall size of our state credit – the next goal we must accomplish for the well-being of working-poor families.