Tag: ‘earned income tax credit’
The IRS Could Improve EITC Compliance by Regulating Tax Preparers
By Elaine Maag :: November 2nd, 2015
Tax preparers play a critical role helping low income working families collect benefits from the Earned Income Tax Credit. Almost 60 percent of families claiming the EITC in 2010 and 2011 did so with the help of a paid preparer. Unfortunately, preparers can make costly mistakes—errors the taxpayer is ultimately responsible for resolving. The IRS […]
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Despite Promises, Jeb Bush’s Tax Plan Wouldn’t Eliminate Marriage Penalties
By Roberton Williams :: September 16th, 2015
GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush offered a tax plan last week that he says “eliminates the marriage penalty.” But it may not help many low-income working families. A married couple is penalized if it pays more tax filing a joint return than if each spouse could file individually. Conversely, marriage bonuses occur when marriage lowers […]
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"The Long and Winding Road... Will Never Disappear..."
By Renu Zaretsky :: July 24th, 2015
The Senate’s six-year highway bill inches forward, after dropping a Social Security provision. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won 14 Democrats’ votes for the bill after he agreed to drop a $2.3 billion offset. The money would have come from barring people with felony warrants from getting Social Security benefits. The Senate will keep voting on […]
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A Redesigned Earned Income Tax Credit Could Encourage Work by Childless Adults
By Elaine Maag :: May 20th, 2015
The earned income tax credit (EITC) lifts millions of working families out of poverty, but provides little support to workers without children and some low-wage workers married to other low-wage workers. Congress could fix this flaw by scaling back the EITC and creating a new worker credit that is based on individual earnings and not […]
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Tax Season: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over
By Renu Zaretsky :: April 13th, 2015
The IRS and the ACA: Working hard and working well. The IRS, thanks to years of preparation since the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, has managed the current tax filing season smoothly, according to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, even with new ACA burdens and IRS budget cutbacks. “It’s amazing what the IRS can […]
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Credits, Collections and Refunds
By Renu Zaretsky :: March 11th, 2015
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t shut down, but… fallout remains over the President Obama’s executive orders on immigration and their effect on low-income tax breaks. Senate Finance Committee Chair Orrin Hatch wants the Administration to say how many immigrants protected from deportation would receive Social Security numbers. He doesn’t believe the Social Security Administration’s […]
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Will Immigrants Get A Tax Windfall From Refundable Credits?
By Elaine Maag :: December 12th, 2014
In the end-of-the-year congressional scramble, lawmakers scuttled an effort to permanently extend a number of tax breaks—largely because many feared it would open the door to widespread use of refundable tax credits by undocumented immigrants covered by President Obama’s recent executive order. But is their concern justified? Three sets of rules related to residency and […]
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Congress Is Back with Much To Do and Consider
By Renu Zaretsky :: July 7th, 2014
On the Hill this week: The House may vote to make bonus depreciation permanent. The Senate Finance Committee may present a transportation funding plan reflecting a compromise with the House Ways and Means Committee. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has scheduled a hearing on incorrect Earned Income Tax Credit payments. There’s a better way […]
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Mike Lee’s Tax Plan: An Intriguing Idea That Would Add $2.4 Trillion to the Deficit
By Howard Gleckman :: March 12th, 2014
An ambitious tax reform plan proposed by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) would provide generous new tax credits for families with children and repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax, while at the same time eliminating the standard deduction and nearly all itemized deductions. More than 60 percent of households would pay lower taxes than under current law […]
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Variation in EITC Take-up, County by County
By Ben Harris :: January 31st, 2014
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of our nation’s most effective anti-poverty policies, bringing 10.1 million families out of poverty in 2012. The EITC is designed to reward work by increasing wages for low-income workers; workers with low incomes can receive up to an additional 45 cents for every dollar they earn. Recognizing […]
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