The cost-of-living refund (CLR), a proposal from the Economic Security Project, would revise the current earned income tax credit (EITC) by increasing benefits for many people, expanding eligibility for the credit, and paying the credit in advance via monthly payments. The proposal would provide...
The earned income tax credit provides substantial assistance to low- and moderate-income workers. Benefits tilt heavily to families with children. Prompted in part by the success of the credit and in part by shortcomings in the credit, policymakers, advocates, and analysts have offered up reform...
This paper provides estimates of the total cost of and distributional effects of nonbusiness tax expenditures claimed on individual tax returns after enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taking account of interactions among provisions. Nonbusiness tax expenditures will reduce tax...
The federal earned income tax credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit that provides substantial cash benefits to low-income working families with children. Working adults without children at home— including noncustodial parents, who are considered “childless” for tax purposes—also face economic...
This report analyzes a straightforward mechanism to mitigate middle-class wage stagnation: a wage tax credit of 100 percent of earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000, called a universal earned income tax credit. The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $2,500 and be made fully...
The Filer Voter experiment assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at sites providing free income tax preparation assistance to low-and moderate-income households in Cleveland, OH, and Dallas, TX. We find that the program doubled the likelihood of unregistered tax...
Effective marginal tax rates measure how a household’s material resources change as its earned income rises. For example, when a household’s earnings from work rise by $100, its net resources may rise by less than $100 as those earnings may be subject to payroll and federal, state, and local...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed into law on a dramatically accelerated schedule. That speed and the enormous scope of the TJCA and its individual elements suggests that alternatives may have been overlooked. The consequences of a proposed change in tax law are usually estimated with a...
State government tax revenues have fluctuated wildly over the past year largely because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late December 2017. Overall, year-over-year growth in state tax revenues was strong in the third quarter of 2018 but weaker than the growth observed in the final quarter...
On February 27, 2019 William G. Gale testified in front of the 116th U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget for a hearing entitled, "2017 Tax Law: Impact on the Budget and American Families."
Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit: The Economic Security Project’s Cost-of-Living Refund
The cost-of-living refund (CLR), a proposal from the Economic Security Project, would revise the current earned income tax credit (EITC) by increasing benefits for many people, expanding eligibility for the credit, and paying the credit in advance via monthly payments. The proposal would provide...
Redesigning the EITC: Issues in Design, Eligibility, Delivery, and Administration
The earned income tax credit provides substantial assistance to low- and moderate-income workers. Benefits tilt heavily to families with children. Prompted in part by the success of the credit and in part by shortcomings in the credit, policymakers, advocates, and analysts have offered up reform...
Distributional Effects of Individual Income Tax Expenditures After the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
This paper provides estimates of the total cost of and distributional effects of nonbusiness tax expenditures claimed on individual tax returns after enactment of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, taking account of interactions among provisions. Nonbusiness tax expenditures will reduce tax...
Expanding the EITC for Workers without Resident Children
The federal earned income tax credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit that provides substantial cash benefits to low-income working families with children. Working adults without children at home— including noncustodial parents, who are considered “childless” for tax purposes—also face economic...
A Universal EITC: Sharing the Gains from Economic Growth, Encouraging Work, and Supporting Families
This report analyzes a straightforward mechanism to mitigate middle-class wage stagnation: a wage tax credit of 100 percent of earnings up to a maximum credit of $10,000, called a universal earned income tax credit. The child tax credit would increase from $2,000 to $2,500 and be made fully...
The Filer Voter experiment: How effective is voter registration at tax time?
The Filer Voter experiment assessed the effectiveness of conducting voter registration drives at sites providing free income tax preparation assistance to low-and moderate-income households in Cleveland, OH, and Dallas, TX. We find that the program doubled the likelihood of unregistered tax...
Estimating Marginal Tax Rates Using a Microsimulation Model
Effective marginal tax rates measure how a household’s material resources change as its earned income rises. For example, when a household’s earnings from work rise by $100, its net resources may rise by less than $100 as those earnings may be subject to payroll and federal, state, and local...
The TCJA: What Might Have Been
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed into law on a dramatically accelerated schedule. That speed and the enormous scope of the TJCA and its individual elements suggests that alternatives may have been overlooked. The consequences of a proposed change in tax law are usually estimated with a...
State Tax and Economic Review, 2018 Quarter 3
State government tax revenues have fluctuated wildly over the past year largely because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late December 2017. Overall, year-over-year growth in state tax revenues was strong in the third quarter of 2018 but weaker than the growth observed in the final quarter...
The 2017 Tax Law: Impact on the Budget and American Families
On February 27, 2019 William G. Gale testified in front of the 116th U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget for a hearing entitled, "2017 Tax Law: Impact on the Budget and American Families."