Millions of low-income Americans are eligible for a one-time tax break this year that could save them big bucks. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit, which is aimed at people in the lowest-paid jobs, is being tripled for a group of workers who typically don’t benefit much from it: Childless adults.
For the tax year that just ended, low-income workers without kids can receive a credit worth up to $1,500 — nearly triple what the credit was worth in 2020. The American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill signed into law last year by President Joe Biden, expanded the credit, raised income limits and expanded the ages of eligible workers for 2021.
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“The American Rescue Plan allows anyone 19 and older, who’s not a full-time student [and] who has earnings, to claim the expanded EITC. It expanded both age and income eligibility and it made the credit larger,” said Kris Cox, deputy director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank.
