Connecticut is one of the only states in the country that doesn’t offer a personal income tax credit or exemption for residents with children, according to a report published Monday by research and advocacy think tank Connecticut Voices for Children.
That makes the state “uniquely hostile” to families with children, Wade Gibson, director of CVC‘s fiscal policy center, said in a statement.
Among 41 states with a personal income tax, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are the only two that don’t offer a tax credit or an exemption for dependent children.
“As a result, a two-parent family with three children pays virtually the same amount in state income tax as a couple earning the same amount with no children, even though households with children spend far more on food, clothing, health care and other necessities and have far less disposable income,” the report said.
Additionally, 24 of those 41 states also offer a refundable tax credit for children, childcare or both, while Connecticut does not.
The report recognized that Connecticut’s recently established earned-income tax credit takes into account the number of children in a household, but only for low-income households.
CVC called on the legislature to expand the EITC and to implement credits and exemptions for families with children.
