A Texas lawmaker introduced a bill on Tuesday to give tax breaks to healthy families with multiple children.
Republican Texas State Representative Bryan Slaton introduced House Bill 2889 Tuesday. The bill would give property tax deductions to married families with four or more children; if a family has ten or more children, they would pay no property taxes under the law. Slaton said that the bill would help incentivize Texans to get married, stay married, and raise large and healthy families.
In order to qualify for the tax break, the child must be the son or daughter of two married parents, born after the parents are married. If the child is adopted, he or she must be adopted after the parents are married. A qualifying child can also be the stepchild of one of the parents, but only if the other parent is a widow or widower. Also in order to qualify, the couple must be legally married and never have been divorced. Couples must provide documentation of both their marriage and birth or adoption certificates in order to claim the credit.
According to the bill, a qualifying couple is eligible for a 10% tax deduction in their property taxes. Couples with four or more children are eligible for even greater tax deductions:
Couples with four children receive a 40% property tax deduction Couples with five children receive a 50% deduction Couples with six children, 60% Couples with seven, 70% Couples with eight, 80% Couples with nine, 90% Couples with ten or more, 100%The qualifying couple is able to claim the tax credit regardless of whether or not the qualifying child resides in the same home as his or her parents; or whether the child dies. If one spouse of a qualifying couple dies, the widow or widower is entitled to the credit so long as he or she remains unmarried.
“Supporting Texas means supporting Texas families,” Slaton said in a statement posted to Twitter Tuesday. “Strong families are the backbone and building blocks of society. We must support families by making it financially easier for them to have and raise children in a supportive and nurturing way.”
“With this bill, Texas will start saying to couples: ‘Get married, stay married, and be fruitful and multiply,’” he added.
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The press release also claimed: “[m]any studies have shown that children tend to have enhanced ‘wellbeing and development,’ and tend to avoid developmental, academic, and behavioral problems when raised by both parents in a stable marriage. Falling birthrates also pose a potentially significant problem for the future as the age dependency ratio rises.”
The release also said that Hungary and Poland have passed similar pro-family policies, and as a result, have begun to reverse their declining birth rates.
Conservatives praised the legislation on Twitter.
“This is the type of legislative innovation we need in government across the board,” activist group The Bull Moose Project wrote. “Restoring the family is one positive step forward to restoring America. Fantastic bill, Rep. Slaton! Let us know how we can help. (And legislators who follow us, take note!) 👀”
“@BryanforHD2 has a visionary plan for orienting the Texas tax code on the basis of pro-family policy,” tweeted Gladden Pappin, senior fellow at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest, Hungary. “He cites Hungary🇭🇺 as an example—where the tax burden on families is also reduced as they grow. The encouragement of adoption is also near & dear to my heart!”
“Excellent and creative leadership from Rep. Slaton,” American Moment president Saurabh Sharma added.
