VT CDCC: TY2022 missing low-income AGI cap, unmodeled pre-2022 24% § 5822(d) credit, and state_cdccs double-listing

[hua7450]

Summary

Verbatim reading of the enacted acts (follow-up to the state CDCC verification in #8826) shows three Vermont CDCC divergences:

1. TY2022 over-grant — missing AGI cap. 2022 Act 138, Sec. 3 amended 32 V.S.A. § 5828c for TY2022 to read: "LOW-INCOME CHILD AND DEPENDENT CARE CREDIT — A resident of this State with federal adjusted gross income less than $30,000.00 (or $40,000.00 for married, filing jointly) shall be eligible for a refundable credit… equal to 50 72 percent of the federal child and dependent care credit… provided in this State in a registered home or licensed facility certified by the Agency of Human Services…". Only 2023 Act 72, Sec. 14 (eff. Jan 1, 2023) removed the AGI cap, the certified-facility requirement, and the "low-income" title. The model's vt_cdcc pays 72% of capped_cdcc to all filers starting 2022 (rate.yaml begins 2022-01-01 with no AGI gate), over-granting TY2022 filers above the thresholds.

2. Pre-2022 gap — unmodeled § 5822(d) 24% nonrefundable credit. Act 138, Sec. 2 struck "child care and dependent care credits" from old § 5822(d)(1): "A taxpayer shall be entitled to a credit… of 24 percent of each of the credits allowed against the taxpayer's federal income tax… and child care and dependent care credits." Through TY2021, every VT filer could take 24% of the federal CDCC nonrefundable (the 50% low-income § 5828c credit was "in lieu of" it). The model has no § 5822(d) CDCC, so TY2021-and-earlier filers above the low-income threshold get $0 where law gave 24%.

3. Aggregate double-count. vt_low_income_cdcc's parameters never sunset (2005 with no end date) and gov/states/household/state_cdccs.yaml lists both vt_cdcc and vt_low_income_cdcc from 2022-01-01 onward, so the state-CDCC display aggregate double-counts (0.72 + 0.5 × federal) for a low-AGI filer. Tax liability is unaffected (the refundable-credits list is year-exclusive: 2021 → vt_low_income_cdcc, 2022+ → vt_cdcc).

Sources

• 32 V.S.A. § 5828c (current): https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/32/151/05828c
• 2022 Act 138, Secs. 2–3: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/ACTS/ACT138/ACT138%20As%20Enacted.pdf#page=3
• 2023 Act 72, Sec. 14: https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/Docs/ACTS/ACT072/ACT072%20As%20Enacted.pdf#page=14
• Form IN-112 (corroboration; blocked to automated fetch): https://tax.vermont.gov/sites/tax/files/documents/IN-112-2024.pdf

Proposed fix

1. Gate vt_cdcc on the low-income AGI thresholds for TY2022 only (in_effect-style toggle; thresholds already exist under cdcc/low_income/income_threshold.yaml), uncapped from TY2023.
2. Sunset vt_low_income_cdcc after TY2021 and remove it from state_cdccs.yaml 2022+ entries.
3. Add the pre-2022 § 5822(d) 24% nonrefundable CDCC (ends TY2021).
4. Note in comments: the pre-2023 certified-facility and in-state-care conditions are not tracked at the moment.

Not blocked by #8855/#8878 — no shared files.

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