Still debating a CTC work requirement? The Build Back Better Act won’t be ready for a Senate floor vote anytime soon. Sen. Joe Manchin still wants recipients to have a job before they can get the child tax credit while many progressives insist the credit be fully available for even the lowest-income parents.
A closer look at limiting the CTC for high-income parents. Manchin also has said he’d like to lower the income phase-outs for the credit. Currently, very high-income parents are eligible for part of the credit. TPC’s Elaine Maag looks at the pros and cons of such a change. Her conclusion: “It is hard to argue that Congress should continue to provide CTC benefits to parents making $400,000. But lawmakers should think carefully about how low to set the new eligibility threshold and consider all the potential consequences of reducing it.”
Blue states ask SCOTUS to hear SALT challenge. The states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland challenged the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. They urged the High Court to overturn the law because “Congress’s unprecedented curtailment of the SALT deduction presents a novel and important question about the limits of federal taxation power.” A federal appeals court previously rejected their argument.
Also in Connecticut, a GOP call for tax relief in the wake of a budget surplus. Republican lawmakers proposed temporarily reducing the state’s sales tax from 6.35 percent to 5.99 percent, effective February 15 through the end of this year. They also would eliminate the 1 percent tax on restaurant meals and prepared meals sold in grocery stores through the end of the year.
Mississippi Governor’s top priority: Repeal the income tax. Gov. Tate Reeves said yesterday that eliminating the state’s income tax, which accounts for $2 billion in state revenue, would make Mississippi more competitive. He said cutting taxes should be state lawmakers’ first priority in the coming legislative session. House Speaker Philip Gunn Alba would offset the revenue loss with by raising the sales tax.
West Virginia continues to break tax collection records. The state concluded the first half of its fiscal year with $507 million in December tax collections, nearly a third more than December, 2020. The state ended the first six months of its fiscal year with a surplus of $395.9 million.
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