In December of 2017, Congress passed and President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Proponents of the TCJA point to a provision in the law that doubled the child tax credit (CTC) from $1,000 per child under 17 to $2,000 as a big win for American families. Senior Advisor to the President, Ivanka Trump, made this claim on Sunday.
But does this provision really help hard-working American families?
First Focus Campaign for Children, along with leaders in both parties, has long advocated for an increase in the CTC. But the 2017 tax bill’s token CTC increase disproportionately benefited the children of wealthy families.
As Elaine Maag of the Tax Policy Center points out, “the TCJA didn’t change child benefits for most families with children by very much — and that it missed a huge opportunity to benefit all families.”
Since the law was passed, the results are clear: wealthy families and corporations got a tax break, while 29 million kids were left out.
Here’s how that happened…
If lawmakers are serious about providing meaningful tax relief to families — as the 2017 Tax Bill promised — they must make the CTC fully refundable and ensure that any future tax bill benefits all kids, not just those in wealthy families.