Colorado lawmakers this year passed major new benefits for low-income families. New laws will provide hundreds, or thousands, of dollars for families with kids and working low-income families.
The biggest changes are the creation of a new Family Affordability Tax credit and the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, both of which were signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis in recent weeks. The benefits kick in for the current tax year, and people should expect to see the effects when they file their taxes early next year.
In all, well over $1 billion per year could be provided to those families in the form of refundable tax credits. That money is being taken out of the TABOR surplus — so, instead of being refunded in payments to all taxpayers, some will go to cover these credits and other changes.