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Here’s why low-income earners are not getting a tax rebate — and why some are upset about it
An income floor attached to the plan has become contentious.
Last week, Massachusetts lawmakers unveiled a plan to distribute one-time rebates to taxpayers in an effort to help them deal with inflation-induced financial burdens. A $250 check would be sent to residents who filed individual tax returns that qualify, and married taxpayers who filed joint returns would receive $500.
But there’s a catch. While announcing the plan, officials also detailed an income floor for qualification. Individuals must have reported earning between $38,000 and $100,000 in annual income for 2021, while married couples must have reported earning between $38,000 and $150,000 last year.
Now, the plan has come under scrutiny for seemingly ignoring the state’s lowest-income residents.
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In a letter sent to Senate President Karen Spilka July 9, State Senator Diana DiZoglio said that she agrees with the intent of the plan but does not support the proposed income floor attached to it.
“The focus by Massachusetts on an arbitrary income floor is not supported by the current economic conditions,” she wrote. “Our lowest-income families need our support now. This is an urgent priority for those families, and I urge you and others in our leadership to remove the income floor so that our lowest-income earners are also eligible for the proposed rebates.”
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In response to questions about the income floor, some of the state’s top politicians referred to recent stimulus payments, enhanced unemployment benefits, and a temporary extension of the federal child tax credit. These measures have already helped low-income residents, they said.
“Every working individual making less than $38,640 who filed taxes in 2021 and did not claim unemployment was eligible to receive a $500 COVID premium payment.” Spilka said, according to The Boston Globe. “Those checks have already gone out.”
Instead, leaders like Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano have touted other ways to help the state’s poorest residents. This includes proposals to increase the child and dependent care tax credit, the earned income tax credit, the senior circuit breaker tax credit, and provide for rental assistance, according to the Globe.
But some, like Peabody resident James Gilliam, are still feeling the sting of the proposed income floor attached to the new rebate plan. Gilliam and his wife have little earned income and low Social Security payments, the Globe reported, therefore they wouldn’t be eligible for a rebate.
“It doesn’t seem to serve the purpose of helping people,” Gilliam told the Globe “We get absolutely nothing.”
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