My name is Arianna Caldwell, and I just turned 25 on Saturday. I have two kids – one four-year-old and one baby who just turned one, and I’m a single mom. The EITC has meant a lot to me in the past. In 2013, I had a job and my car recently broke down. It was going to be $2000 to fix my car, and I didn’t have that money. I was riding the bus. If I wasn’t able to pay to get my car fixed, I probably would have lost my job because my child got dropped off at preschool at 7:30 and my job started at 8:30. Using the bus, I wasn’t able to get to work on time. That year, my tax return came just in time, and I was able to pay for the necessary repairs to fix my car and keep my job.

I work two jobs right now. I just started my second job January 11th. I work at the hospital and I work for the state health department. I qualify for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, and so I’m also going to get the new Colorado state Earned Income Tax Credit this year. The state EITC means that I’ll get an additional 10% tax credit on top of what I receive from the federal EITC.

Getting the 10% more from the state EITC will mean a lot for me. I’m trying to save money for my kids. Both of my children have bank accounts. I want to put away money for each of them in their savings accounts. I haven’t been able to save before because I haven’t had a good job in awhile. I’m also trying to work on my credit score and pay off my student loans. The state EITC will help me pay for some of these expenses while still having a bit of money saved. Having that savings would mean security for me—if something happens, I’ll have money saved. It’s like a fallback, and I don’t have a fallback right now.

The Earned Income Tax Credit has helped me keep my job, and it helps give me and my kids more stability. I urge families like mine to make sure that when they file their taxes this year, they get both the federal and state EITC.
For more information about Colorado’s state EITC, you can go here.