Child tax credit bill clears Alabama House, Senate

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - A tax break for families who received the federal child tax credit will soon be on the way after a set of bills passed the Alabama legislature Thursday morning on their way to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk. This credit will save families, in total, $87 million. Lawmakers are proud this made it all the way through.

“It basically is something that, if it was overlooked, people would not be able to do this,” said Rep. Jim Carns, sponsor of HB231, the House version.

Families will be able to save money on their taxes this year, based on the number of children in the household.

“If you have two children, this is probably right around $200 that they will not pay,” explained Sen. Dan Roberts, sponsor of SB152, the Senate version. “They’ll get a tax credit on it and save them $200 in taxes.”

With a nearly unanimous vote in both chambers, legislators expressed how much they believe Alabamians deserve this break.

“One of the problems was that people were working, and their children were not in school. So they had to pay extra money to help somebody take care of their children while at work,” said Rep. Carns.

“So parents were put at a tremendous disadvantage. And that’s what these incentive dollars are for. So we’re grateful to get this passed,” said Sen. Roberts.

If you have already filed your taxes, legislators say you’ll need to make an amendment to what you’ve filed. If you haven’t filed, they say to wait until Gov. Ivey signs the bills to be sure the credit is applied.

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