More than 1.2 million Californians have claimed the California Earned Income Tax Credit (Cal EITC) in 2018—nearly tripling the number of claims from the previous year.
The Cal EITC is available to qualified, low-income tax filers, who may be eligible for as much as $6,000—money that can be used to pay bills, cover basic needs for children, and put food on the family table. Cal EITC is one of the most effective tools for lifting families out of poverty, according to the Cal EITC awareness campaign’s website.
The state launched an outreach and education campaign to raise awareness of the credit among self-employed workers and other qualifying working families, and the effort proved successful. According to the Franchise Tax Board, 1,262,358 Californians have already claimed the credit in 2018, surpassing the 317,794 who claimed it in 2017. In real dollars, $285 million has already been put back into the pockets of working families and individuals.
“Record numbers of Californians are benefitting from the Earned Income Tax Credit thanks to the outreach efforts of government agencies and advocates like CalEITC4Me,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said on his official Facebook page. “That means more money in the pockets of working families and more money going into local stores and businesses.”
To calculate your eligibility for the Cal EITC, visit http://caleitc4me.org/ and click “Earn It.” You may also be eligible to amend tax returns up to three years back and claim credits you didn’t originally claim. Find out if you qualify at the website by clicking “Know It.”
Previously: Governor Brown Proclaims ‘California Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Week’
