Election Day 2024: Where Every Presidential Candidate Rises on the Child Tax Credit

Plan to expand the child tax credit have become a key talking point among both Democrats and Republicans in Washington, DC in recent years, and now these proposals are getting a major new spotlight amid the 2024 presidential campaign.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, first talked about her vision for tax cuts in an economic policy plan released just before Democratic National Conventionpromising a loan that pays substantially more for families with newborns. A key part of Harris’ plan is also to restore the expanded child tax credit that was part of the 2021 American Rescue Plan. She expanded on her goals during the debate with former President Donald Trump.

“I have a plan” Harris said during the debate. “$6,000 for young families in the first year of your child’s life. To help you at the most critical stage of your child’s development.”

Harris outlined her credit plans again during a major speech in Washington, DC, a week before Election Day.

“I’ve met so many young people who have a natural desire to parent their children well, but don’t always have the resources to do it,” Harris said. “So I’m going to fight for a child tax credit to save you some money … which will also lift American children out of poverty.

Trump, as well as his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, expressed similar hopes for credit expansion, though a recent New York Times report shed light on the differences between their views and Harris’s.

Studies indicate that the temporary credit increase from 2021 had a significant impact on child poverty. Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy found that payments reduced monthly rates of child poverty by nearly 30%, with payments reaching approximately 61 million children.

Read on to find out how much Harris hopes to increase the child tax credit and how it compares to the ideas presented by her Republican opponents. For more information on elections, here’s how see if you are registered to vote and how to track official results in key states.

What is child tax credit?

Child Tax Credit gives parents tax relief for each child under 17 they claim as a dependent. First introduced in 1997, the credit currently offers $2,000 per child, with only $1,600 of that amount refundable, meaning you can get that amount even if you don’t owe that much in taxes. The remaining $400 is non-refundable, so it can only be used to reduce your tax burden.

In 2021, President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan was passed and brought with it substantial increases to the child tax credit. Under the law, the credit was expanded to pay $3,600 per child under 6 and $3,000 per child between the ages of 6 and 17. The loan was also repayable in full and payable in part as a monthly benefit.

What happened to child tax credit after 2021?

After 2021, Congress did not renew the temporary tax break and the child tax credit reverted to previous levels and it is scheduled to drop again in 2025 to $1,000 per child.

Efforts to expand credit in 2021 have not been successful, including a Senate vote on August 1 which failed 48 to 44, with all but three Republicans voting against it.

What is Harris’ plan for expanding the child tax credit?

“We know that young families need support to raise their children,” Harris said during her debate against Trump. “And I intend to extend a tax break to those families.”

Just before last month’s debate, the Harris campaign debuted an official platform page on its official website titled “A new way forward,” including a section on the vice president’s plan to “Cut taxes for middle-class families.” The campaign noted Harris’ goal of expanding the child tax credit to $6,000 for families with a newborn under the age of 1. While the platform did not elaborate on the plan, Harris has in the past discussed restoring the credit to 2021 levels for all other non-newborn children.

Under that 2021 expansion, parents could claim a $3,000 credit for children age 6 and more than $3,600 for children ages 2 to 5. It would further increase the amount of the newborn credit to $6,000. The 2021 extension removed the work and income requirements so that eligible parents, regardless of income, could receive the full credit.

“(Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz) will also expand the child tax credit to provide a $6,000 tax break to families with newborn children,” the page said. “They believe that no child in America should have to live in poverty, and these actions would have a historic impact.”

Harris said he also plans to restore the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for single and joint filers who do not claim copies on their tax returns. The EITC is a refundable tax credit for working people with low and moderate incomes.

Harris has previously proposed covering the costs of this expansion and other parts of her economic plan by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy. That The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget notedhowever, these proposed tax increases have not yet been specified by the campaign.

What did the Republicans propose for the child tax credit?

Vance he said in an Aug. 11 interview with CBS News that he would work to increase the credit, if such a thing could be worked out with Congress. Trump’s official “Issues” page. it does not highlight the child tax credit, only suggesting in one section the tax cut in general terms.

“I would like to see a child tax credit of $5,000 per child,” Vance said. “But you, of course, have to work with Congress to see how feasible and viable that is.”

The child tax credit was raised from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2017 when Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which expires in 2025. His 2024 campaign said in a comment to CNBC that Trump “will consider a significant expansion of the child tax credit,” but did not elaborate on his plans. A recent piece on the fate of the child tax credit from the New York Times noted that Trump is eager to boast that during his administration he has “doubled” the credit, however, the piece explained that because Trump’s policy treats the policy more like a tax cut than a credit to which anyone can claim, it was not applicable to the poorest 25 percent of families who did too little to report taxes.

For more information on credit history, see CNET’s history coverage of taxpayer eligibility and how can it be affected by shared custody arrangements.