(The Center Square) – Washington’s Working Families Tax Credit doled out more than $108 million, Senate Democrats said.
The tax credit is open to state residents between the ages of 25 and 65 years old or who have a qualifying child and who are eligible for an Earned Income Tax Credit on their 2022 tax return. Applicants must have lived in the state for at least 183 days in 2022.
Those who qualify can receive up to $1,200. About 400,000 Washington residents are eligible, and 190,000 applied so far, according to a news release by the Senate Democrats.
Proponents of the tax credit said it would help working families.
“The Working Families Tax Credit is a step toward economic justice for families on the margins,” said Sen. Joe Nguyen, D-White Center, who sponsored the Senate companion bill to HB 1297, passed by lawmakers in 2021. “By putting money back into the pockets of those who need it most, we can reduce poverty and build a more equitable society.”
A bill expanding the tax credit to married couples filing separately and residents who did not apply in the past three years but were eligible was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year. The change takes effect on Jan. 1.
“This program is one important step to addressing the upside down nature of our tax system,” Inslee posted on his official Facebook account on the day the program launched.
Matt Bruenig of the People’s Policy Project, a think tank focused on social democratic policies, said the tax excludes half of Washington children living in poverty. The tax would not help children living in families with no income or who don’t file a tax return.
He recommended a universal child tax credit modeled on Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend that pays every state resident annually based on dividends from the state’s mineral revenues.
