CalEITC and Tax Credits work, but the Baseline Is Still Too Low.
November 6, 2026Elizabeth entered foster care at 15 and grew up in a group home, without what she calls “the experience of a loving home.” Later, she had two boys, then went back to school while raising them.
Then she did something that scared her.
She went to Sacramento and told state lawmakers her story as a mom and former foster youth. “Being there in front of powerful strangers was really hard,” she said. “So folks from GSO having my back was huge.”
That year, California created the Foster Youth Tax Credit, which supports young people like Elizabeth until age 25.
“In the system, I felt invisible,” she said. “But when I join with others to share my story and create change, I feel powerful.”
That’s how California’s tax credits get built and get stronger. Working people show up and share their reality, and lawmakers listen.
What Advocating for the CalEITC Does
The California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) is a refundable state tax credit that delivers cash back for California’s lowest-paid workers, including those who file with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Because it’s refundable, workers get the money even if they owe no state income tax. It is an important tool to help working Californians make ends meet.
Families with a child under six can add the Young Child Tax Credit, worth up to $1,189, and former foster youth like Elizabeth can claim the Foster Youth Tax Credit.
In tax year 2026, 3.2 million households claimed the CalEITC.
Together, the three credits returned more than $1.4 billion to working families in a single year. The state’s tax agency found that the CalEITC and Young Child Tax Credit alone provided a lifeline for more than 142,000 Californians.
Our Tacos & Taxes events turn churches, schools, and community centers into free tax clinics, with trained volunteers, music, and tacos. In 2026, nearly 30 events filed more than 2,500 returns, and some sites helped up to 250 people in a single day. We have even gone further. With our EITC Bus Tour, we delivered more than $85,000 in refunds to the most resource-challenged parts of California. We launched the tour last year and also helped respond to the needs of the Altadena community after fire tore through their homes. Our team went door to door so survivors knew free help was still there.
We Still Need to Do More
California is one of 31 states with its own EITC, and one of only a few that includes ITIN filers. But we have more work to do.
Previously, we worked with lawmakers on two bills to make these credits stronger. AB 397, by Assemblymember Mark González, would have extended the Young Child Tax Credit to kids up to 18. AB 398, by Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, would have raised the smallest CalEITC from $1 to $300, and no one opposed it. Both stalled over the budget.
Think about that. A bill no one opposed still couldn’t find room in the budget. Gloria Steinem said, “We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs.” Our true priorities show up in where we spend our money. As the world’s fourth-largest economy, California can do better.
The average CalEITC return in 2024 was $291, or $878 for a family with two kids. That money matters. But the smallest credit is still one dollar, in a state where a two-bedroom apartment rents for about $2,700 a month.
California’s economic baseline for working people is outrageously low, and for too long we’ve called a few hundred dollars a year good enough. It isn’t.
The CalEITC program works. Now it’s time to do more.
Raise the minimum, let the credits grow with kids, and make free tax help easy for every working Californian to find. That’s what raising the baseline means.
Join us. Raising the Baseline means telling friends about the CalEITC and helping them find low-cost tax preparation resources in your community. And of course, advocating for expansions of these successful programs.