Tax Credits for Working Families

Washington

  1. Earned Income Tax Credit
  2. Child Tax Credit
  3. Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit
  4. Property Tax Circuit Breaker

Earned Income Tax Credit^

Income Tax Rate: None

State EITC: Yes

Refundable: Yes

Enacted: 2008 but the credit has yet to be funded by the Washington State Legislature

Formula: 10 percent of federal credit.

Notes/News: Washington is the first and only state without an income tax to have an EITC. The Washington Working Families Credit was signed into law in 2008 and will benefit 350,000 Washington households. The state Department of Revenue has been working to establish an efficient system to administer the credit, which is currently scheduled to begin in 2012 if it is funded in the 2011 legislative session. The rebate will be worth 10 percent of the federal EITC.

A coalition, led with research and communications by the Washington State Budget & Policy Center and advocacy outreach by the Washington Tax Fairness Coalition and numerous other organizations, worked closely with legislative leadership to see this historic legislation passed. With the addition of Washington, 24 states, including the District of Columbia, now have a state EITC.

Unfortunately so far Washington has not had the funds in the state budget to actually implement its EITC.

Reports/Materials: Working Family Tax Credits Are Good for Wa. State’s Children and Economy, Washington State Budget & Policy Center, April 2013

“Washington State & Local Taxes,” from Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, January 2013

A Primer on the Working Families Tax Rebate, Kery Murakami, Washington State Budget and Policy Center, February 2010

Washington: State and Local Taxes in 2007, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, November 2009

The Working Families Tax Rebate, Stacey Schultz and Jeff Chapman, Washington State Budget and Policy Center, April 2009

Child Tax Credit^

State Credit: No

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit^

State Credit: No

Property Tax Circuit Breaker^

Circuit Breaker: No

Reports/Materials: “Washington State & Local Taxes,” from Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, January 2013

Balancing Adequacy and Equity with a Property Tax Circuit Breaker, Washington State Budget and Policy Center, March 2007

Property Tax “Circuit Breaker” Credits: A Good Deal for Washington State, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 2007