Proposal to make more Iowa parents eligible for child care tax break

DES MOINES — The 2019 Iowa legislature may be poised to increase the number working Iowans who can claim a tax credit for child care expenses.

Parents with an annual income above $45,000 are no currently eligible. A bill that’s cleared a senate subcommittee would make Iowa parents who earn up to $57,000 a year eligible for child care tax credits. Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, has been working on the proposal.

“It’s important that parents have dollars that they can spend on child care and so forth,” Feenstra said, “and that’s what this does.”

Senator Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, said it’s a significant move.

“I think that really helps working families a great deal by raising their eligibility limit to get into that credit,” Jochum said during a senate subcommittee meeting on the proposal.

The bill also would set up indexing for these child care tax credits. It means there would be annual, incremental increases in the income level at which a parent is eligible to receive a tax credit for child care expenses.