The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Congress created the federal earned income tax credit (EITC) in 1975 to offset the adverse effects of the Medicare and social security payroll taxes on working poor families and to encourage low-income workers to seek employment rather than welfare.
(b) Due to a relatively low percentage of federal earned income tax credit eligible persons who participate in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program, hundreds of millions of federal dollars go unclaimed by the working poor in California.
(c) In 2015, the State of California authorized a state EITC to amplify the poverty-reducing effects of the federal EITC for the poorest working Californians.
(d) In order to alleviate the tax burden on working poor persons and families, to enhance the wages and income of working poor persons and families, to ensure that California receives its share of the federal money available in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit program, to ensure that the poorest working Californians access the additional state EITC, and to inject additional federal money into the California economy, the state shall facilitate the furnishing of information to working poor persons and families regarding the availability of the federal and state earned income tax credit so that they may claim those credits on their federal and state income tax returns.
(e) It is the intent of this act to offer the most cost-effective assistance to eligible taxpayers through the following:
(1) Notices provided by their employers.
(2) Notices provided by state departments and agencies that serve those who may qualify for the EITC.
(3) By taking steps to ensure that eligible Californians claim both the federal and state EITC.
(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 294, Sec. 1. (AB 1847) Effective January 1, 2017.)