Child tax credit gets extended, while higher education tax breaks receive approval
The House Ways and Means Committee approved expanding the child tax credit and higher education tax breaks. In other tax news, H&R Block offers a map outlining state income tax requirement to help same-sex couples' IRS filings.
Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., is seen at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2013. The House Ways and Means Committee approved expanding the child tax credit and higher education tax breaks.
Charles Dharapak/AP/File
The House Ways and Means Committee approved an expansion of the child tax credit.听A party-line vote approved changes to the听. The proposal would index the credit to inflation and increase the phaseout range for joint filers to $150,000, twice the range for single filers. The听听$114.9 billion over 10 years and is not paid for with budget offsets.
Ways & Means also approved higher education tax breaks.听The Committee听听an expansion and simplification of听. Available to married couples with annual income under $180,000, it provides a higher education tax credit of $2,500, with up to $1,500 refundable. The proposal would add听听to the deficit.听
Speaking of debt:听A Brookings Institution听听notes that typical student loan borrowers aren鈥檛 any worse off than those in their parents鈥� generation. About 25 percent of the听听since 1989 comes from Americans pursuing more education, especially graduate degrees. Average lifetime incomes of college graduates have more than kept pace with increases in student debt load. And student loan borrowers鈥� monthly payment burden has stayed about the same over the past two decades.
Surprise: Less money and more work weakens IRS service and enforcement.听The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities听听of budget cuts, the IRS has reduced its workforce, investments in employee training, and upgrades to information technology systems. But, it鈥檚 also taken on additional responsibilities under the听听and the听. Doing more with less is an IRS reality, but it鈥檚 hard to imagine that it鈥檚 a sustainable one.
On the Anniversary of DOMA鈥檚 Repeal:听The Tax Institute at H&R Block offers听听requirements since the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. TPC鈥檚 Bob Williams explored听. The US Supreme Court declared听听that same-sex couples married in states where it is legal must receive the same federal health, tax, Social Security and other benefits that heterosexual couples receive.