When it comes to tax breaks, Congress loves handing them to wealthy corporations. But working people and families? It’s like pulling teeth.
Take for example the research and development (R&D) tax break. This has been in place for almost 70 years and has bipartisan support. But, after expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in 2021, lifting millions of children out of poverty, the Senate failed to renew this critical program in 2022.
Now, businesses are pushing for a continuation of the R&D tax break that has allowed them to deduct expenses immediately to help with cash flow. But what about the cash flow of struggling families?
Last year’s monthly checks of between $250 and $300 per child each month, assisted 36 million families across the country. Families living paycheck to paycheck who received those monthly payments reported being less likely to have to sell their plasma or go to debt-trap Payday Lenders to cover basic expenses.
Now that those monthly CTC payments have stopped, and with the price of food rising, 2 million more people with children have reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat, compared to last summer, when the CTC payments were being delivered.
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