Pennsylvania families start receiving monthly child tax cut money

DALLAS — A Luzerne County mom said Wednesday that she will definitely be benefiting from the Child Tax Credit that will provide families with additional funds each month through the end of the year along with a tax break in 2022.

Christine Somers, 53, of Dallas, is a single mother of two children — her daughter is 11 and her son is 9 — who attend school in the Dallas School District.

Somers works at Misericordia University as Director of the Office for Mission, Ministry and Service.

Somers said starting this month, she will receive $300 per child per months through December under the Child Tax Credit program. She said as a parent, on there tax returns, she would get $2,000 back per child. With this new tax credit, Somers said she will received $3,000 per child starting next year.

“This will help me pay for a babysitter during the summer and enable me to send my kids to camp for child care,” Somers said. “Babysitting fees are $245 per week — and camp is $200 to $250 per week. To get help with these expenses, it allows me to continue to work. I don’t have family in the area to rely on.”

Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesperson Rosie Lapowsky said today is the first day Pennsylvanians will start receiving a monthly tax credits of up to $300 per child as part of the American Rescue Plan.

Lapowsky said this tax cut will provide additional relief of up to $1,600 per child to the families of 2,368,000 children in Pennsylvania, helping lift 140,000 children out of poverty.

“Today’s payments are a huge win for working families across Pennsylvania,” Lapowsky said. “Thanks to President Biden and Democrats, Pennsylvania families will begin receiving a tax cut monthly, helping to cover expenses like child care, preparing for back to school, and supporting return to work for folks who lost their jobs or income during the pandemic — especially mothers. This major tax relief for working families is poised to lift millions of children out of poverty.”

Lapowsky said no Republicans in Congress voted for the tax cuts.

“These tax cuts are further proof that President Biden and Democrats are delivering for working families. Pennsylvanians, help is here,” she said.

Lapowsky said the tax cuts are part of the expanded Child Tax Credit program included in the law.

According to the fact sheet on the Child Tax Credit put out by the Biden Harris Administration, the tax credits:

• Will help with the costs of raising children, families will begin to receive monthly payments of up to $250 for each child 6 to 17 years old and $300 for each child under age 6. Under the American Rescue Plan, the Child Tax Credit will be fully refundable, meaning that if a family’s income tax bill is less than the amount of their Child Tax Credit, they will get a payment for the difference. This will ensure for the first time that even the most hard-pressed families will get at least as much support as more affluent families.

• Across the country, this tax credit will benefit 66 million children and cut child poverty in half.

• These measures will help parents by helping them with the costs of raising children — measures that experts project could contribute to cutting child poverty in half. They will also help defray the costs of child care, provide more child care options, and support return to work for those who have lost their jobs or income — especially mothers. And, they will do all of this while investing in the future of the nation’s children.

However, according to the fact sheet, the economy remains about 7.6 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level, and labor force participation remains more than 1 percentage point below its pre-pandemic level.