Tax credits are an effective way to help families achieve more economic stability. One example is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal program — also offered by some states — that gives tax breaks to low- and moderate-income families and helps move children out of poverty.

Unfortunately, not all families have access to these credits, which is why supporting tax credit fairness is one priority of The Early Childhood Agenda (ECA).

Among those who are most impacted by lack of access are immigrant families.

The problem was more pronounced at the federal level during the pandemic, as Angela Divaris, an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services explained in 2022 to the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank.

“We can all be more attuned to how immigrants are affected by tax laws,” Divaris said, pointing to the federal government’s use of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) to stabilize families.

“On the one hand, ARPA [the American Rescue Plan Act] made US citizen children of immigrants without SSNs [Social Security Numbers] eligible for the expanded CTC, but I’m not sure if they thought through the mechanisms of getting the credit to them.”

In Massachusetts, there are state-level obstacles to tax fairness. As the nonprofit organization MassBudget explains, “In Massachusetts immigrant or mixed-status families who work and pay taxes are currently prevented from receiving the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) if any family member in the household is ineligible for a Social Security Number.”

Divaris’ repsonse to this is simple: because immigrants work and pay taxes, they should be able to claim Massachusetts’ Earned Income Tax Credit.

A key step forward for Massachusetts would be to ensure more fairness for immigrant tax filers who already have an Income Tax Identification Number (ITIN), “a tax processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service… to individuals who are required to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have, and are not eligible to obtain, a Social Security number.”

Other states have already taken action.

“California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington D.C. have enacted laws to extend their state EITC to tax filers who use an ITIN,” MassBudget says, “thereby including all resident taxpayers regardless of immigration status. In addition, Washington State created a credit that mirrors the EITC and extends to ITIN filers.”

Divaris has been busy raising public awareness about this issue. Earlier this month she joined the 9:30 Call, and this morning she will be at the State House for a rally that calls for “Ending the Tax Penalty Against Working Immigrants.”

Divaris will also join the 9:30 Call at Night, which will be conducted in Spanish, on March 20th.

To learn more about the issue, check out the website of the Healthy Families Tax Credits Coalition, an Early Childhood Agenda partner. In addition to supporting the expansion of Massachusetts’ EITC program, the coalition calls for other reforms, including increasing the state EITC “from 40% to 50% of the value of federal EITC.”

Implementing fairer tax credits would have a tremendous impact on families and on children.

As Greater Boston Legal Services puts it, “Sometimes hard work is not enough. Boosting the income of low wage workers — who pay a disproportionate share of that income in state and local taxes — is not only fair, it’s smart! Local economies are strengthened, and kids enjoy long-term life benefits.”