Credit supports working families; can save up to $5,571 per family
Hagerstown, Maryland – Today, the Washington County Department of Social Services (WCDSS) announced that it is encouraging eligible Washington County residents to claim their Earned Income Credit (EIC) and Child Tax Credit. The announcement comes as the County joins in a promotional campaign, titled “Your Money. You Earned it. Now claim it.”, that hopes to raise awareness among County residents of the availability of the tax credits, which can save working up to $5,751 on their 2011 tax returns.
“These important tax credits provide a critical support to working families in our county, many of whom continue to struggle to make ends meet”, says Rosalind A. Martin, Assistant Director of WCDSS’s Family Investment Division. “By spreading the word about this important tax credit, we’re supporting working families throughout our County – and helping to bring much needed dollars back into our local economy”.
The EIC is a refundable income tax credit for people that work and support a family. Qualifying workers can get back some or all of the federal income tax that was taken out of their pay during the year. For example:
- Single or married people, raising one child in their home in 2011 and earning less than $36,052 (if single) or $41,132 (if married) can get as much as $3,094 in Earned Income Credit. Workers raising two children in their home and had income of less than $40,964 (or $46,964 for married workers) in 2011 can get up to $5,112;
- Those raising three or more children in their home and had income of less than $43,998 (or $49,078 for married workers) in 2011 can get up to $5,751;
- Workers between the ages of 25 and 64 on December 31, 2011 who were not raising children in their home and had income below $13,660 (or $18,740 for married workers) can get an EIC up to $464.
Receiving the EIC benefit does not affect any assistance received from WCDSS. FREE tax help is available by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 or by visiting www.irs.gov.
The Washington County Department of Social Services is a field office of the Maryland Department of Human Resources, Theodore Dallas, Secretary, Anthony G. Brown, Lt. Governor, and Martin O’Malley, Governor. For more information about EIC and WCDSS EIC Campaign, contact Rosalind Martin at 240-420-2260 or by email at rmartin@dhr.state.md.us.
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