Economy That Works for All: Bring Back the State EITC

The How to Build an Economy that Works for All series aims to establish policy priorities and proposals that policymakers can advance and North Carolinians can support throughout the election season and the start of the legislative session in January.

North Carolina should have an economy that works for all and ensures every family can make ends meet. Our state once had a policy in place with that exact goal — the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The EITC is a tax credit for working families that reduces poverty and rewards work for low- and moderate-income households. Until recently, these households could claim the state EITC as a way to cover the basics and plan for the future. But In 2013 our state lawmakers eliminated the state credit, which made North Carolina the first state in nearly 30 years to roll back this crucial and effective anti-poverty measure. Nearly one million working North Carolinians claimed the state EITC for the last time in 2014, benefitting more than 1.2 million children and pumping $100.8 million into local economies.