99% Of Maine Workers Received Average Tax Cut Of Nearly $1,000 In 2009

Statement

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree says tax cuts in the Recovery Act that Congress passed last year have saved the average Maine worker nearly $1,000 in taxes in 2009. According to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice, 99% of working Mainers received an average tax break of $995.

"No one likes paying taxes, and I dread April 15th as much as anyone," Pingree said. "But at least this year the tax cuts we passed take a little bit of the sting out of it."

Pingree voted for a number of tax cuts as part of the Recovery Act, including an expansion of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit for lower income taxpayers, an adjustment to the Alternative Minimum Tax and the new Making Work Pay Tax Credit, the largest middle class tax cut in American history.

"The Making Work Pay tax credit alone produced an average tax cut of over $500 for Maine workers," Pingree said. "And in this tough economy putting more money back in people's pockets is especially important. That money goes right into the local economy when families buy groceries, fill up the oil tank or go out to eat."

While tax cuts like the Making Work Pay credit helped nearly all Maine workers, other tax cuts were more targeted, Pingree said.

"We expanded the tax credit for college tuition so that families will save up to $2,500 a year for all four years of college," Pingree said. "That tax cut plus increases in Pell grants we just passed are going to make paying for a college a little bit easier."

One particularly popular tax cut in 2009 was a credit of up to $8,000 for first time homebuyers and a credit of up to $6,500 for previous homeowners buying a new home.

The report from Citizens for Tax Justice can be found here:
http://www.ctj.org/obamastaxcuts/me.pdf

Source