Greater Income Tax Returns

Texas will stand stronger against inflation with $500 more per child and up to 50% of income taxes refunded

With greater Liberty in how their earnings are spent, Working Families will be empowered to build up their own economies and compete better with the big businesses that receive most tax benefits.

Greater Property Tax Exemptions for Residents

Every year, everyday Texans pay a greater share of the property tax burden, making the prospect of homeownership harder to pursue

With greater Liberty to lower tax burdens, Working Families can continue to enjoy the benefits of surrounding market value growth without being taxed out of their homes.

Child Tax Credit

For every child under the age of 17, $2,200 will be taken off the tax bill of every family’s filing. However, only $1,700 will be refundable, meaning working families will be left without a crucial $500 per child to keep up with growing childcare costs.

A simple solution would be to make the Child Tax Credit fully refundable, but taking it one step further would be to return to 17 being the maximum qualifying age, especially with how high grocery costs continue to be.

Earned Income Tax Credit

Currently, some families qualify for a maximum tax refund worth $649 to $8,046, depending on how many children they have. However, due to a number of restrictions, most Texas families will never qualify for the full amount.

The Tax Credit can be reformed to include more Texans in its benefits by

  • Lowering the minimum age from 25 to 18

    • If you’re old enough to be drafted, you should be trusted with tax credits

  • Increase the credit to return at least 50% of taxes paid

    • The maximum credit is already set at 45%, so let’s make it an even 50%

  • Allow families to earn more before the credit phases out

    • With inflation outpacing earnings, the credit’s full value can be restored by increasing the phaseout range to reach the median household income of the State

When tax credits are extended to those that need them the least, the justification is always that the economy will be stimulated and that the benefits will trickle down to working families. Now its time for working families to be trusted to stimulate economies of our own choosing so that our community is better reflected in our commerce.

Fair Property Tax Shares

Neighborhoods with increasing market values may benefit Texans looking to move, but residents who stay often see their rent or tax bills increase, despite stable or lowering property tax rates. This happens when hot markets allow Appraisal Districts to raise your home’s taxable value faster than your tax rates can be lowered.

Meanwhile, Texans are left to depend on their state government to occasionally provide property tax relief, while the biggest businesses consistently get their tax burden lowered. To preserve the prospect of property development without placing an undue burden on residents, Texans should be granted the Liberty to petition their taxing entities for increased homestead exemptions.

In the absence of such exemptions, homeowners are left with a costly individual appeal process to freeze or lower their taxable values. One experiment worth attempting could be to flip the script, where the default for homesteads would be for taxable values to be frozen in place, with the option to appeal for those seeking an increase. Homestead taxable values are already capped at 10% annual growth, so a lower limit is possible so Texans aren’t taxed out of their homes.

While we protect working families from unfair home tax burdens, it is also important to hold harmless our locally owned and operated businesses from resulting burden shifts. In Texas, we believe the prospect of commercial development is worth incentivizing, but the returns are much more likely to trickle down to working families when locals are freed to invest more in their own economy. Ultimately, when residents can compete to provide better goods and services, at better prices, they should not be penalized with high tax burdens.