Shapiro touts tax credit for workers
Gov. Josh Shapiro heralded the benefits of a new tax credit for working families during a stop in Fayette County earlier this week.
The Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit is anticipated to provide 940,000 state residents a combined $193 million in tax relief in its first year, Shapiro said during an address at Fayette County Community Action Agency in Uniontown.
Anyone eligible for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit will automatically be eligible for the state credit, set at 10% of the EITC, when they file their 2025 tax returns.
The credits are available to low- and moderate-income workers, topping out at $805.
Shapiro, a Democrat, said he and legislators heard the concerns from residents about rising costs, as well as the uncertainty over safety nets like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“I can’t control what happens in D.C.,” he said. “We can work together to control what happens here in Pennsylvania, and there was absolutely an emphasis on making sure we put money back in the pockets of people who are working, and they’re struggling to get by.”
Rose Comport, a nutrition assistant at Fayette County Community Action Agency and an EITC recipient, said people living paycheck to paycheck are already experts at managing their budgets. But, she said, the new tax credit will help residents like her better weather emergencies, whether a crack in the windshield or the insurance company not covering her daughter’s epilepsy medication.
“I can say that I am proud to be raising my family in Pennsylvania, a state that listens and understands the concerns of struggling, working families, and it shows it cares by taking action like we’re seeing today,” she said.
In Fayette County, 11,943 people will qualify for the credit, which will give them a total of $2.3 million.
Scott Dunn, chairman of the Fayette County commissioners, said that extra money will benefit residents by helping them afford things like child care.
“As we work in Fayette County to build a new future through business attraction and expansion, through a renewed emphasis on higher education and a focus on our housing needs, the governor’s earned income tax credit can offer a buffer to us until we as a county get to where we want to be,” he said.
It will benefit an additional 12,376 people in Washington County, where a total of $2.2 million in credits will be distributed, according to state data. In Greene County, 2,411 residents will get a total of $500,000 back.
The protracted negotiations over the state budget, which was finally approved in November, were still fresh in lawmakers’ minds.
State Sen. Patrick Stefano, whose district includes Fayette County, said given the diverse needs of the state’s regions, he wasn’t surprised not to agree with every provision. The tax credit, however, had the Republican’s full support.
“That’s what we should be doing, giving that hand out and hand up to those that are already working, that are part of the workforce and just need a little bit of help to get up over the edge,” he said. “That’s what we’re here for. That’s what Community Action does.”
As with the federal EITC, how large a credit a person gets varies depending on income, marital status and their number of children.
Shapiro gave some examples.
A mother earning $25,000 as a waitress and raising three kids would get an extra $770 back on her taxes. For a grandmother raising a grandchild who went back to work at a minimum-wage job for $15,000 a year at a grocery store, it would be $432.
“I want to be clear about something: This is not a giveaway,” Shapiro said. “This goes to people who are working, who are trying to make ends meet, who are trying to put food on the table, who are doing all the things we ask of them. They need a little bit of extra help, and this tax credit is an important way to give them that added relief.”
The state also provided an online calculator for people to estimate their credit at bit.ly/484nFZB.