LOWELL — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan visited the Merrimack Valley Food Bank Thursday to help package and distribute food to families as she touted the beginning of enhanced child tax credit payments to families, saying the payments — as well as funding for organizations like the food bank — will help keep families fed as the nation recovers from the pandemic.
The enhanced child tax credit was passed as part of the American Rescue Plan, and will see families get a $3,600 tax credit for each child under 6 this year, and a $3,000 tax credit for each child under 18.
The larger credits — they were previously $2,000 per year for all children — are being sent to taxpayers before they file their 2022 taxes to help boost the economy.
Trahan has sought to highlight the payments for months since they were passed in the spring. Families will get early payments from the government of up to $300 per month, per child.
“The enhanced Child Tax Credit will benefit more than 129,000 children in the 3rd District with an average of $2,600 per eligible household, and it will lift as many as 8,200 children in (the Massachusetts 3rd Congressional District) out of poverty,” Trahan said in a press release.
Families qualify for the full enhanced tax credits if their income is below $75,000 per year for single filers, $112,000 for head of household filers, and $150,000 for those who are married and file jointly. Some who make more than that will still qualify for reduced credits.
“With funding for anti-hunger programs like the Merrimack Valley Food Bank and investments in food assistance, the American Rescue Plan has helped put food on the table,” Trahan said. “And with the monthly Child Tax Credit payments that are starting to hit bank accounts (beginning Thursday), the American Rescue Plan continues putting money in pockets to pay for child care and other expenses.”
Trahan helped out at the food bank Thursday to also highlight the $3.6 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture that was included in the American Rescue Plan to help organizations like the food bank.
“The Child Tax Credit will benefit so many of the working families that we serve. It will provide them with much needed relief from the financial stresses of the last year,” said Debbie Callery, the Merrimack Valley Food Bank’s assistant executive director.
