Majority in new poll says expanded child tax credit should not be permanent

A majority of registered voters do not think the expanded child tax credit should be permanent, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted by Morning Consult and Politico, found that 52 percent of registered voters think the child tax credit expansion under President Biden should “probably not” or “definitely not” be permanent, compared to just 35 percent of respondents who said the payments should “definitely” or “probably” be permanent.

When examined by party, 55 percent of Democrats who responded to the poll said the expansion should be permanent, compared to just 16 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of independents.

A poll from Data for Progress and Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, publicized by the progressive firm Fighting Chance for Families, however, found that 56 percent of voters support making the child tax credit expansions permanent.

When broken down by party, 74 percent of Democrats, 31 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of independents supported making the expansion permanent.

An expansion to the child tax credit was passed in March, through the massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill championed by Biden. 

It increased the credit amount for 2021 and directed the IRS to make periodic advance payments of the credit until the end of the year so families can receive funds in installments rather than in a lump sum when they file their tax returns in 2022.

The payments started going out last week.

Democrats say the expanded tax credit will help to reduce child poverty, and that the monthly payments will aid families in financing important expenses as they arise.

A handful of Democratic lawmakers are now pushing to pass legislation that would make the one-year expansion of the credit permanent.

There are, however, a number of obstacles that may get in the way of achieving that goal.

For starters, Democrats must determine how they want to pay for extending the credit. The Treasury Department has said that Biden’s proposed expansion would cost more than an estimated $400 billion over a decade. Making the increased credit amounts permanent would cause that number to increase even more.

While Republicans have previously backed expanding the child tax credit, namely in their 2017 tax cut law, they are now concerned that the Democrats’ expansion allows the lowest-income families to receive the full credit amount, which they claim gets rid of the link between credit and working.

The poll surveyed 1,997 registered voters between July 16 and July 18. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.