NC House Closer to Ending Earned Income Tax Credit

(AP) North Carolina House Republicans want to eliminate a tax credit designed to put more money in wallets of the working poor. The House tentatively agreed Tuesday to legislation that conforms state tax law to federal changes.

The bill adjusts the state's version of the Earned Income Tax Credit slightly, but doesn't change a previous decision to end the credit starting with 2014 returns. The credit allows families to collect checks if their credit exceeds what they owe in taxes. An outside group says 900,000 tax returns filed for the credit valued at $105 million in 2011. House Bill 82 passed by a vote of 75-41, after the chamber defeated a Democratic amendment that would have extended the credit until 2019.

A final House vote could come Wednesday.