Jenniffer González promotes federal benefit for workers in Puerto Rico that would contribute $525 million to the economy

Washington, D.C. -Congresswoman Jenniffer González Colón, presented bipartisan bill that would add $525 million dollars to the economy of Puerto Rico, alleviating the economic burden of working families, both with dependents and without dependents, by applying on the island of the Credit for Accrued Income or Earn Income Tax Credit (EITC).

HR 754, introduced with Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL), seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 so that Puerto Rican residents can be eligible for the Accrued Income Credit ( EITC) that applies to the states.

The EITC is a reimbursement created during the decade of the seventies with the purpose of contributing to the eradication of poverty. According to data published by the Federal Administration of Families and Children, for 2015 the EITC represented a benefit of $65 billion for some 27 million taxpayers who receive an annual check of up to $6,242.

As reported by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March 2014, taxpayers in Puerto Rico would receive $525 million if they received this benefit.

According to the adjustments made for the tax year 2015, to benefit from the EITC, the families had to have maximum incomes of between $39,000 and $53,300, depending on the taxpayer's civil status and the total number of minor dependents. In fact, the credit reached a maximum of $3,359 for taxpayers or families with only one child, $5,548 when it came to two children and up to $6,242 if they had 3 children or more.

The EITC can also benefit, although in a more limited way, workers who do not have dependents. By 2015, they qualified if they had incomes below $14,800 or $20,300 if they were a couple, and the credit was a maximum of $503.

Since it is reimbursable, a beneficiary of the EITC does not have to owe federal taxes to receive the benefit. This credit was conceived as a mechanism to encourage employment and discourage dependence in the state, providing relief to low and moderate income families.

In May 2018, the GAO published another report that recognizes the unequal treatment of Puerto Rico in federal programs including the EITC and which, as did the bipartisan Task Force of Congress, recommends extending to the island .