From next year, thousands of workers in Puerto Rico will receive the benefit of credit for work, after the governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia made into law the measure that makes the country extension of the application of the Contributive Credit for Earned Income for Work (EITC, For acronyms in English).
Pierluisi filed a bill before the Legislature to increase the EITC in Puerto Rico immediately after the federal government extended funds to the island as part of the American Rescue Act (ARPA, For acronyms in English).
“More than 500,000 families on the island will be able to benefit from this incentive that will have the effect of providing relief to the working class. I reiterate my gratitude to President Biden’s administration and Congress for expanding this program in Puerto Rico. About $ 612 million a year in additional funding for the program for the next 10 years will help us do justice to our island’s workforce. Puerto Rico and that will have a multiplier effect on our economy, “the governor said in a press release.
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The chief executive added that “this contributory credit is a proven program that encourages work and promotes our people to enter the workforce and be adequately compensated.”
For his part, the secretary of the Department of Finance, Francisco Parés Alicea, Expressed his satisfaction with the final piece and was honored to be part of this historic moment in which justice will be done to the Puerto Rican working class.
“We affirm our commitment to the governor and all taxpayers to distribute these $ 800 million, each year, to the more than 500,000 families who will be able to claim from the next contributory cycle on the Income Contribution Record Sheet. “Our work team is extremely pleased with the final project and the sustained dialogue to achieve this law that encourages active workers while encouraging other citizens to join the workforce,” said Parés Alicea.
The secretary added that already the Department of Finance sent the draft of the distribution plan to the ‘ Internal Revenue Service (IRS, For its acronym in English) for approval, as required by federal law. He also explained that any individual who is a resident of Puerto Rico and is 19 years of age or older for the year filling out the Income Contribution Record Sheet, and who generates gross livestock income, will be able to apply for the Credit. for Work on the spreadsheet. He detailed that this credit will be based on income level and dependent. For example, a single taxpayer, with three children, with an income level of $ 21,000 to $ 40,000, would have a maximum credit of $ 6,500 per year.
Governor Pierluisi and the resident commissioner Jenniffer González made arrangements in the White House and Congress to include Puerto Rico in the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) and to expand and expand the Work Credit Program in Puerto Rico, as well as the Dependent Child Credit (CTC, For the acronym in English). In addition to this Work Credit, during the next contributory cycle all custodians of minors will be able to apply for the CTC. This was not the case in the past for island residents, as only those with three or more dependents could apply for credit.
In the case of the Dependent Child Credit, the year in which custodians of children under the age of 6 may receive $ 3,600 per child, while for children under the age of 6 to 17 they will receive $ 3,000. In the following years the benefit is again $ 2,000 for children up to 16 years.
“This benefit from the Work Credit, as well as the Dependent Child Credit and the increase in the minimum wage, represent great permanent steps that we are taking in Puerto Rico in favor of the working class. Now, they will not only have a guaranteed higher minimum wage, but it also rewards work and helps families with children to ensure a better quality of life and to help reduce child poverty, ”said the governor, who added that“ the engine of the economy are the thousands of Puerto Ricans who take to the streets every day to work and contribute to their island, and I am sure that all these benefits come to offer relief to their burden. “