CONTACT: Nikki Metzgar, 202-886-5206, nmetzgar@dcfpi.org
WASHINGTON — In the first fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget vote today, DC Council approved an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to include income-eligible workers no matter their immigration status. Advocates and residents sent 660 emails to Councilmembers and joined the Excluded Workers coalition for a call-in day to Chairman Mendelson urging them to make this change. The Fair Budget Coalition recommended the expansion as a part of its FY 2023 Budget Platform.
Erica Williams, Executive Director of DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI), shared the following statement:
“Council’s decision to expand the EITC demonstrates the District’s commitment to an inclusive economy. Undocumented residents face steep barriers to participating in DC’s economy and sharing in its prosperity. The change will help them keep more of what they earn to help make ends meet. It will also help ensure that all children in the District get the start they deserve, show up to school ready to learn, and have economic mobility as they reach adulthood. We praise the DC Council for advancing racial and ethnic equity through this investment.”
Niciah Mujahid, Director of the Fair Budget Coalition, shared the following statement:
“Expanding the EITC to include undocumented immigrants in DC is not only an act of justice, but is a critical step toward achieving inclusive and intersectional economic equity in DC. We must do the morally correct work of investing resources in the communities most impacted by systemic racism, capitalism, mass incarceration, xenophobia, community disinvestment, and economic oppression– expanding EITC is one tangible way that DC must commit to doing this work.”
The EITC is a refundable tax credit that helps workers and families with low to moderate incomes reduce the taxes they owe and possibly increase their refund.
- Currently, it excludes roughly more than 5,000 low-paid working households because they have at least one person who is undocumented.
- With this eligibility change, DC would allow people whose income otherwise qualifies them for this tax credit claim it using an Individual Taxpayer Number, or ITIN.
- For more information on how the expansion would advance racial equity and a more progressive tax system at a relatively low cost, read DCFPI’s report DC’s Earned Income Tax Credit: The Most Generous in the Nation, But Not the Most Inclusive.
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