§ 19851

The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(a) Congress created the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) in 1975 to offset the adverse effects of the Medicare and social security payroll taxes on working poor families and to encourage low-income workers to seek employment rather than welfare.

(b) Due to a relatively low percentage of federal earned income tax credit eligible persons who participate in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program, hundreds of millions of federal dollars go unclaimed by the working poor in California.

(c) In 2015, the State of California authorized a California EITC to amplify the poverty-reducing effects of the federal EITC for the poorest working Californians.

(d) In order to alleviate the tax burden on working poor persons and families, to enhance the wages and income of working poor persons and families, to ensure that California taxpayers receive their share of the federal money available in the federal EITC program and other state and federal antipoverty tax credits, to ensure that the poorest working Californians access the additional California EITC, and to inject additional federal money into the California economy, the state shall facilitate the furnishing of information, as permitted by Section 19551.3, to working poor persons and families regarding the availability of the federal and California EITC so that they may claim those credits on their federal and state income tax returns.

(e) It is the intent of this act to offer the most cost-effective assistance to eligible taxpayers by taking steps to ensure that eligible Californians claim both the federal and California EITC and other state and federal antipoverty tax credits and are aware of free tax preparation services through the following:

(1) Notices provided by their employers.

(2) Notices provided by state departments and agencies that serve those who may qualify for the EITC.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 55, Sec. 8. (SB 131) Effective July 10, 2023.)