Republican vice presidential nominee Senator J.D. Vance speaks at a campaign rally at NMC-Wallard Inc./Wallard International in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 7, 2024.
Adam Boettcher | Getty Images
Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, former President Donald Trump’s Republican vice presidential nominee, wants to more than double the child tax credit, but policy experts say the increase could be difficult to implement.
“I’d be happy to have a child tax credit of $5,000 per child, but of course we’d have to work with Congress to see how feasible and achievable that is,” he said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Vance’s proposal would be a “relatively large expansion” compared with the current benefit, which is worth up to $2,000 per child in 2024, said Garrett Watson, senior policy analyst and modeling manager at the Tax Foundation.
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If Congress doesn’t act, the child tax credit’s cap will be reduced from $2,000 to $1,000 when President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts expire after 2025.
During the pandemic, lawmakers temporarily increased the Child Tax Credit cap from $2,000 to $3,000 or $3,600, depending on the child’s age. In 2021, families received up to half the amount in monthly payments.
The child poverty rate A record low of 5.2% More students may go to college in 2021, thanks in large part to expanded tax credits, according to a Columbia University analysis.
The Senate failed to pass an expansion of the child tax credit.
Vance’s remarks came as Senate Republicans The child tax credit expansion passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support in January.
If passed, the bill would have improved access to the child tax credit, retroactively increasing the refundable portion of the credit and potentially issuing refund checks from the IRS.
Democrats withheld some votes Reply to Vancehas positioned himself as a pro-family candidate, but the bill was expected to die if Senate Republicans could not agree on the credit design.
Vance was not present during the recent Senate vote, but in an interview with CBS he called it a “sham vote” and noted that the bill would not have passed even if he had been there.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “will continue to fight to expand the child tax credit,” national economic adviser Lael Brainard said in a statement.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
How Vance’s $5,000 child tax credit would work
“The child tax credit is clearly a priority for Democrats across the country,” said Richard Okusier, chief policy director at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
But Vance’s expansion plan could face difficulties due to growing concerns from lawmakers. Federal budget deficit.
Watson, of the Tax Foundation, said increasing the child tax credit to $5,000 could cost “roughly $3 trillion” over 10 years.
“The immediate challenge, of course, is how to get through the costs,” he said, in addition to other proposed reforms such as extending President Trump’s expiring tax cuts.
Questions have also been raised about how some of Vance’s ideas would work, including the design of his proposed child tax credit, its eligibility requirements, work requirements and income phase-out.
“Many Republicans are very skeptical of moving forward with eliminating the work phase-in requirement for the child tax credit,” meaning they want to make sure only working families can get the credit, Watson said.
He said Vance’s proposal could reignite that debate among conservatives and Republicans as the 2025 deadline approaches.
