California Launches Campaign to Educate Individuals About Earned Income Tax Credit

A coalition of California leaders—including community, faith, civic, labor and business leaders—this week launched CalEITC4me, a statewide campaign to ensure the first-ever California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) winds up in the hands of those who worked hard to earn it. The campaign will also focus on increasing the availability of free tax preparation services locally.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s 2015–16 budget established the state’s first EITC, designed to complement the federal EITC. California working families will now be eligible for both state and federal EITC benefits. With nearly $400 million available through the new state EITC, an estimated $2.3 billion is available for Californians.

California joins 24 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting a state EITC to supplement the federal EITC.

The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) is a cash back tax credit that puts money back into the pockets of California’s working families and individuals, available for the first-time this tax season.

The CalEITC could boost income for an estimated 600,000 eligible families.

Who Is Eligible?

An individual is eligible for the EITC if:

• You have earned income within certain limits (see chart below), AND

• You, your spouse, and any qualifying children each have a Social Security number (SSN), AND

• You do not use the “married/RDP filing separate” filing status, AND

• You lived in California for more than half the tax year.

Both the CalEITC and the federal EITC will be available this tax season and may provide eligible Californians with a refund or reduce the amount of money they might owe.

Californians who qualify for the CalEITC will likely also qualify for the federal EITC. This will significantly boost household income for eligible families and individuals.

The state credit offers working families the chance to get ahead. Studies show that young children in households that receive the EITC do better in school, are more likely to attend college and earn more, brightening the future of the next generation.

More Information

CalEITC4Me.org is a one-stop, multilingual online hub of information and interactive resources. Innovative online tools include:

• the CalEITC4Me Calculator, created for California by the Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation, where individuals can determine their new state and federal EITC eligibility and potential refund in a few easy steps;

• the Free Tax Prep Finder, which connects families to local free tax preparation services; and

• the interactive CalEITC4Me Heat Map that allows nonprofits, government agencies and others to identify key regions of eligible filers by ZIP code and other searchable criteria.

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