The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) is a refundable tax credit that puts money back in the pockets of low-income working people. Modeled off of the Federal EITC, it is one of the most effective tools for addressing poverty, as it helps people afford basic necessities like rent, groceries, and transportation. Legislators support the EITC because it boosts local economic growth while building economic security. Unfortunately, immigrants without a Social Security Number were excluded from accessing the CalEITC for many years, magnifying the impacts caused by unemployment, natural disasters, health emergencies, and widening economic inequality across the state.
In 2020, after years of hard-fought advocacy, CIPC and its partners in the CalEITC Coalition finally achieved an end to this historic exclusion, with immigrants who have an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) now able to apply for the program. No longer will workers be excluded from the CalEITC because of their status or the number they use to file taxes. An estimated 600,000 people in California can now benefit from additional financial resources to help make ends meet, which is made all the more critical in light of COVID-19.
Additionally, when the Governor announced the Golden State Stimulus to provide one-time payments for Californians during the pandemic, we worked with our partners to secure additional relief for immigrants who were excluded from federal stimulus payments. As a result of our collective efforts, immigrant workers in California were able to get up to $2,200 in Golden State Stimulus payments, and over 600,000 immigrant households in California have benefited.
This year, California lawmakers have the opportunity to help families put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads by boosting the poverty-fighting and equity-building impacts of the CalEITC and Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC). The CalEITC coalition is advocating for the state to expand the YCTC to include children ages 6-17, children up to age 24 who are students in college, and children of any age who are totally and permanently disabled. In addition, the coalition is working to establish a $300 minimum CalEITC that addresses the challenges that low-income immigrant families in California experience.
Join CIPC and the CalEITC coalition to continue to make the CalEITC and our tax systems more equitable.
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Help us continue CIPC’s groundbreaking work on behalf of immigrants and refugees in California.