First Lady Jill Biden leads administration officials in call for Puerto Rican families to sign up for the American Rescue Plan’s Expanded Child Tax Credit

by Apr 13, 2022Federal Government, Puerto Rico0 comments

As part of a final push to encourage families in Puerto Rico to file their taxes and receive both the CTC and EITC, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Representative Nydia Velazquez (D) of New York, US Deputy Secretary of Treasury Wally Adeyemo, and American Rescue Plan Coordinator Gene Sperling held a special virtual event with UnidosUS, the Hispanic Federation, the Institute of Youth Development/Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud (IDJ), Espacios Abiertos, and United Way of Puerto Rico.

The Biden Administration and these leading non-profits are urging families to file their taxes by April 18 to take advantage of this critical aid. 

In a fact sheet, the White House explained the benefits the ARP affords to families of the US territory, including that:

The American Rescue Plan made historic, permanent changes to the Child Tax Credit for Puerto Rico families – making the credit available to 97% of Puerto Rico families this year, compared to 10% before the ARP

  • Previously, only Puerto Rico families with three or more qualifying children or more qualified for any Child Tax Credit benefit.
     
  • This meant that before the American Rescue Plan, only about 10% of Puerto Rico families qualified for any Child Tax Credit.
     
  • The ARP permanently changed that policy to extend the CTC to Puerto Rico families with fewer than three qualifying children who were previously excluded. As a result of the ARP, 97% of Puerto Rico families with children are eligible for the 2021 Child Tax Credit.
     
  • For 2021, the ARP increased the Child Tax Credit to $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child 6-17 – and ensured that lower income families could access the full credit.
     
  • In addition, the ARP provided the first-ever federal support for Puerto Rico’s local Earned Income Tax Credit – allowing Puerto Rico to more than triple EITC benefits and extend the EITC to more workers for the next 10 years.

Together, the ARP’s expansions of the CTC and EITC are estimated to provide over $1 billion in tax relief per year going forward. They stand to benefit hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico families—with the families of over 500,000 children eligible for the 2021 expanded CTC.