NC tax rule adjustments signed into law

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A bill is now law making North Carolina's annual adjustments to state tax rules based on federal changes.

Gov. Pat McCrory's office announced he signed the bill Wednesday.

Lawmakers decide every year whether to conform to federal tax changes. Democrats this year criticized Republicans developing the bill for keeping the state's version of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit on track to expire next year.

Several hundred thousand people seek the credit, which allows low-income families to collect checks if their tax credit exceeds what they owe in taxes.

Democrats led the legislature when the state's version was approved in 2007 and it was scheduled to expire in 2012. Republicans last year agreed to extend the credit for another year. The new law does not extend the credit another year.