Kilili: Expanded child tax credit possible

The U.S. Congress is expected to act as early as this month on a legislation to make more families in the nation—including in the Marianas—eligible for the maximum child tax credit when they file their 2023 income tax, according to Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) over the weekend.

Introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Missouri), H.R. 7024, or the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, also increases the maximum amount of the credit from $1,600 to $1,800 per child in 2023, $1,900 in 2024, and $2,000 in 2025 with an inflation adjustment.

Sablan said in his e-kilili newsletter that under the legislation, any year’s credit not used to cover taxes is refunded directly to the parent.

He said the U.S. Treasury pays the Commonwealth for the cost of the child tax credit as a result of changes the U.S. Congress enacted in the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021.

The delegate said taxes vary from individual to individual, but as an example, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculates a parent with two children and $15,000 in earned income would see an increase in the family’s child tax credit from $1,875 to $3,600.

Sablan said the legislation is the result of bipartisan negotiation between Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and House Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith (R-Missouri).

Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan