Jill Biden Wants to Make Sure Families in Puerto Rico Apply for the Child Tax Credit

First lady Jill Biden, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, and Rep. Nydia Velázquez highlighted the importance of Puerto Ricans requesting these tax credits that are now available to more families on the island than ever before.

First lady Jill Biden participated in a virtual event on Monday, along with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, and Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY), to encourage Puerto Rican families to file their taxes and receive both the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

This is part of the Biden administration’s initiative to ensure that families in Puerto Rico are treated fairly in the tax system by making certain that for the first time, families and children in Puerto Rico fully benefit from the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

The ARP marked a historic permanent change for households with children in Puerto Rico by making the CTC available to 97% of families this year, compared to 10% before the ARP. Previously, only families in Puerto Rico with three or more qualifying children were eligible for the CTC.

In 2021, the ARP increased the CTC to $3,600 per child under 6 years of age and $3,000 per child 6-17 and ensured that lower-income families could access the full credit.

This tax season, Puerto Ricans have an additional benefit: The ARP has more than tripled EITC benefits and extended the EITC to more workers for the next 10 years.

During the event, Cardona expressed his support for Puerto Ricans in the wake of a blackout that left the entire island in darkness last week. For this reason, he also emphasized that all those who qualify for these credits should request them by April 18.

“My heart goes out to everyone affected by the recent power outages and the students who had to miss school because they couldn’t participate in virtual learning, without power and medication […]They deserve to be better off,” Cardona said during the event.

Velázquez said that now Puerto Rico has more access to thousands of dollars in federal credits because, “it is what we have been fighting for.”

The ARP’s expansions of the CTC and EITC are estimated to provide over $1 billion in tax relief per year going forward to people on the island. They will benefit hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican households, as families of over 500,000 children are eligible for the 2021 expanded CTC.

For more information on how to claim these credits, you can visit ReclamaTuDineroPR.com.