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Kentucky Youth Advocates Wants Earned Income Tax Credit

A Kentucky nonprofit says a state earned income tax credit would help working families.

Kentucky Youth Advocates released an issue brief  that says the credit would piggyback onto the federal earned income credit. That could yield up to $337 per applicant, with little to no administrative cost to state government.

The proposal could cost up to $134 million per year. But KYA Executive Director Terry Brooks says it would help pay for itself by putting money back into local economies.

“We know that families who get earned income credits are not going to take that refund and put it in their off-shore account. Instead, they’re going to be spending money at the local hardware store, at the local car repair shop, at the appliance store. They’re going to be taking their kids to the department store to buy them clothes for school.

Neither Democratic nor Republican leadership is voicing support for comprehensive tax reform in the next year. But the earned income tax credit has bipartisan support on the federal level, and Brooks says the measure would likely enjoy the same in state government.

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