The U.S. should improve its welfare system instead of spreading more money to the middle class at the expense of the poor.
The enhanced Child Tax Credit has expired and I, for one, will not mourn it. Neither should you.
Sure, it's been extremely popular — who doesn’t like getting more money from the government? But it's not great policy. Taxpayers and recipients of the credit deserve better.
Here's a quick review: The enhanced tax credit was a successor to the $2,000 version that was part of the 2017 tax reform. The credit was increased last year by the Joe Biden administration to $3,600 annually for each child under 6 and $3,000 for older children, with half of that paid monthly and the rest claimed on your tax return. Every family got the same amount up to an income limit. The pandemic-inspired enhancement was set to expire at the end of 2021, when the credit reverted to the prior $2,000. The president’s Build Back Better plan would extend the increase, but that proposal is in limbo as the bill remains blocked by opponents in Congress.
Continue reading the entire piece here at Bloomberg Opinion (paywall)
______________________
Allison Schrager is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.
This piece originally appeared in Bloomberg Opinion