WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama wants to expand the earned-income tax credit, which helps boost the wages of low-income families through tax refunds.
Obama wants Congress to increase the credit for workers without children.
White House officials note that some Republicans and conservative economists have called for similar expansion of the tax credit or, as in the case of Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, for a new federal wage supplement for certain low-income workers.
Republicans see a broader income tax credit as an alternative to increasing the minimum wage. Obama also wants an increase in the minimum wage.
The White House says the tax credit encourages work and helps reduce poverty.
Obama called for the tax credit expansion Tuesday in his State of the Union address.
