An Oklahoma lawmaker is hoping to bring the Earned Income Tax Credit back to the Sooner State.
Until last year, the credit was a welcome relief for many low-income Oklahomans, by preventing them from paying more than their share of income tax. But, as KFOR reports, the Earned Income Tax Credit was abolished last year as part of an effort to plug the state’s $1.3 billion budget gap.
When the credit was in place, a family with three children received a break of a little over three hundred dollars on their yearly taxes. Eliminating the tax credit is supposed to increase tax collections in Oklahoma by almost $30 million for the year.
But state rep George E. Young, Sr. says more than 5,000 families in his district were negatively affected by the bill. Young has now introduced a Bill which would restore the tax credit and make it refundable.
Oklahoma is expecting a budget shortfall of almost $900 million this year.