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- Minnesota introduced a new child tax credit that could reduce child poverty by 33%.
- Qualifying Minnesotans can claim up to $1,750 per child, benefiting up to half a million children.
- There is still hope, meanwhile, for an expanded national child tax credit.
Minnesota’s top officials are celebrating a new child tax credit they say could curtail child poverty by as much as 33%.
Qualifying Minnesotans can now claim up to $1,750 per child with the new tax credit thanks to legislation passed in the state’s 2023 session. Minnesota is now one of 15 states that, along with the federal government, offer some kind of tax refund to working families with children.
Minnesota officials estimate more than half a million children from 300,000 households could benefit, according to a press release from Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s office.
“I’m excited to see the benefits middle-class families are seeing from this legislation,” Walz said in the press release. “By giving families with kids a boost, we’re helping families in the here and now and setting kids up for future success. This is an investment that will pay off for generations.”
There is no limit on the number of children that can be claimed, though there are income threshold qualifications. For example, to qualify for the tax credit for one child, a non-married filer must make equal to or less than about $47,000, or about $52,000 for a married couple filing jointly.
Not even three weeks into the 2023 tax filing season, some 90,000 children are already benefiting from the tax credit, according to the press release. Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan praised the tax credit’s “outstanding impact on families across the state.”
“Whether it’s childcare, a flat tire, or an emergency medical bill, we’re helping Minnesotans land on their feet when life happens,” Flanagan said in the press release.
The Biden administration’s pandemic-era expanded child tax credit kept millions of children nationwide above the poverty line in 2021 with refunds and direct payments, but some 5 million kids fell back below the poverty line in 2022 after the payments expired. Lawmakers failed to reach a bipartisan resolution to extend the expanded benefit at the time.
Not all hope is lost for an expanded federal child tax credit, however. The bipartisan Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 would incrementally boost the existing federal child tax credit, now limited to $1,600 per child, each year until it reaches $2,000 by tax year 2025.
The bill has passed the House and was received by the Senate at the beginning of the month. Should it pass, the White House has signaled its support.
