The earned income tax credit (EITC) is money received by a person who works, earns less than $44,000, and meets certain requirements at the time of filing their return. This year 2022 the maximum work credit an individual can receive increased to $6,500 per year. This relief contributes to the economic security of the person who receives it and her family. The amount of the credit for work varies according to income, number of children and whether the person is married or single. And depending on the tax obligation of each one, the credit for work can be received as a tax credit or even in a check as a refund. Thousands of people who qualify for the work credit do not apply. In many cases, those who do not ask for it are the ones who need it the most. Those who do not fill out the form because they do not have an obligation to do so are not receiving the money to which they are entitled. This money is a relief for your pocket and it belongs to you. CALCULATE YOUR CREDIT AND REQUEST IT. Access here to the income tax return for the year 2021.
Calculate your credit
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Calculate the impact on your municipality
El work credit directly favors low- and moderate-income families while stimulates the economy. It has been proven that credit for work reduces poverty, encourages work and increases the formal labor force. In addition, for every $1 invested in credit, there is a return of $1.50 to $2 to the economy.
THE CREDIT FOR DEPENDENT MINOR
This year many families will also be able to benefit from another economic relief in the form of a tax credit or a check, this is the Dependent Minor Credit, also known as the “Child Tax Credit” and which can result in a relief of up to $3,600 for each minor dependent. While the Credit for Work is requested from the Department of the Treasury, the Credit for Dependent Minor must be requested from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). People who qualify for both reliefs must apply for each one separately. For more information about the Dependent Minor Credit, access this link.
The new credit for work and its impact on poverty in Puerto Rico
- The credit for work is a social welfare program promoted by the United States federal government that began in the 1970s and has a double objective: to reduce poverty and encourage work in the formal market.
- While Puerto Rico has twice the poverty level of each of the three poorest states in the US, residents of Puerto Rico do not have access to the federal work credit. However, in Puerto Rico an incentive similar to the federal one was legislated at the state level. And this state incentive may be expanded by a special allocation made by the federal government in the American Rescue Plan in 2021.
- From that opportunity, Espacios Abiertos in collaboration with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) presented recommendations to the Legislative Assembly for the new design of credit for work (Law No. 41 of August 29, 2021). “Explanatory memorial on the P. del S. 280”. https://espaciosabiertos.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.04.26-Memorial-explicativo-EA-y-CBPP-PS280.pdf
- And in December 2021, Espacios Abiertos published a Report on the possible impact of the new credit, using the information from the 2019 payrolls as a basis. Below is a brief summary of the Report.
- New credit for work provides for the expansion of the beneficiary base by including new parameters as well as young people and self-employed workers.
Brief history of the Credit for Work in Puerto Rico
- The credit for work is a federal program that has existed in the US since the 1970s and is considered one of the most successful programs that has managed to reduce poverty in the US.
- Although historically poverty levels in Puerto Rico exceed the poverty levels of all states, island residents are not entitled to claim the Work Credit granted by the federal government (IRS).
- In 2006, the first Work Credit was created at the local level on the island, which was in force between 2007 and 2013, but was repealed by the government as of 2014, according to the executive, due to the fiscal crisis that the island faced.
- The 2018 Tax Reform included a new Work Credit that was more robust than the previous one (maximum credit increased from $450 to $2,000) and included a $204 million item for the 2019 fiscal year budget.
- In the 2019 payrolls, some 259,000 families claimed said credit and the government disbursed $115 million. That same year, there were some $89 million budgeted for the credit left over that were not claimed. The data from the 2020 payrolls are not yet available but it is estimated that thousands of workers are still not claiming this money to which they are entitled.
- At the federal level, there have been continued claims that the Federal EITC be extended to Puerto Rico. And even when this has not been achieved, in March 2021 the federal government, through the new law of the American Rescue Plan (ARPA), allocated a game of $600 million to improve the Credit for Work from Puerto Rico.
- In August 2021, the Law that redesigned the Puerto Rico Work Credit was approved so that up to $800 million can be distributed annually, by combining the $200 million that Puerto Rico budgets and the allocation of up to $600 million that was included in the ARPA law. .
I did not claim the credit in the 2019 or 2020 return, can I still do it?
For the 2019 and 2020 returns, the work credit was up to $2,000. Due to ignorance, thousands of people who qualified for the credit for work did not file a return or did not request the credit on their return. If you are one of those people, you have up to two years to amend your income tax return and request that money.
Do you want to know how much money you stopped receiving in the 2019 or 2020 payroll? Access here to the current credit calculator at the time. If you want more information on how to fill out your returns for those years, press the year that interests you: 2019 ó 2020.
Do you want to request the money that corresponded to you from Credit for Work for 2019 or 2020? If you already filed the return and omitted information or did not request the credit for work to which you were entitled, you can make an amendment to your return and correct that omission. This link It takes you to the Treasury page where it explains how to amend filed returns.
public policy reports
- Download the public policy report "The new credit for work and its impact on poverty in Puerto Rico" (2021)
- Download the executive summary "The new credit for work and its impact on poverty in Puerto Rico" (2021)
- Download the public policy paper “The New Earned Income Tax Credit and its Impact on Poverty in Puerto Rico” (2021)
- Download the executive summary “The New Earned Income Tax Credit and its Impact on Poverty in Puerto Rico” (2021)
- Download the public policy report "Credit for work: second round" (2018)
- Download the executive summary "Credit for work: second round" (2018)
- Download the public policy paper “Earned Income Tax Credit: Round Two” (2018)
- Download the executive summary “Earned Income Tax Credit: Round Two” (2018)
- Download the public policy paper “Economic Security Proposal” (2014)
Other reference documents
- Law 41-2021 on changes to the Work Credit (August 29, 2021)
- Explanatory memorandum sent to the president of the Committee on Finance, Federal Affairs and Fiscal Oversight Board of the Senate of Puerto Rico (April 26, 2021)
- Request for public information on Credit for Work to the Department of the Treasury of Puerto Rico (April 8, 2021)
- Urgent legislative action and redesign of credit for work (April 1, 2021)
- States Can Adopt or Expand Earned Income Tax Credits to Build Equitable, Inclusive Communities and Economies Edition (March 11, 2021)
- Presentation by the Secretary of the Treasury Edition (March 5, 2021)
- American Rescue Plan Law Edition (March 3, 2021)
- Policy Basics: State Earned Income Tax Credits Edition (March 9, 2020)
- Communication from Carlos 'Johnny' Méndez Núñez to Open Spaces (October 18, 2018)
- Interview with Nicholas Johnson, Senior Vice President at Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (October 10, 2018)
- Communication to the finance commissions, representatives of minorities and presidents of the Legislative Assembly (October 10, 2018)
- Learning from the experience of credit for work, column Dra. María E. Enchautegui (October 8, 2018)
- Communication from the Fiscal Oversight Board to Open Spaces (October 4, 2018)
- Communication to the Fiscal Oversight Board on EITC (September 26, 2018)
- To disclose the expense report, column Daniel Santamaría Ots (September 24, 2018)
- Communication from Carlos 'Johnny' Méndez Núñez to Open Spaces (September 21, 2018)
- Communication to the Legislative Assembly on EITC (September 14, 2018)
- EITC and Child Tax Credit Promote Work, Reduce Poverty, and Support Children's Development (October 1, 2015)