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Proposal To Make More Iowa Parents Eligible For Child Care Tax Break

John Pemble / IPR file
Under the bill, the maximum income permitted to claim a child care tax credit would rise from $45,000 to $57,000.

The 2019 Iowa legislature may be poised to increase the number working Iowans who can claim a tax credit for child care expenses.

Parents with an annual income above $45,000 are not currently eligible. A bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee would make Iowa parents who earn up to $57,000 a year eligible for child care tax credits.

“It’s important that parents have dollars that they can spend on child care and so forth,” said Sen. Randy Feenstra, R-Hull, who has been working on the proposal. “and that’s what this does.”

Sen. Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque, said it’s a significant move.

“I think that really helps working families a great deal by raising their eligibility limit to get into that credit,” she said during a Senate subcommittee meeting on the proposal.

The bill also would set up indexing for these child care tax credits. It means there would be annual, incremental increases in the income level at which a parent is eligible to receive a tax credit for child care expenses.