I believe that we can work toward providing a strong safety net for all people—and that the tax system will always be an important part of that effort.
In 1997 Congress enacted a number of tax benefits directed toward helping middle- and upper-middle income groups meet rising college costs. This shift in goals and strategies raises concerns about the fairness and effectiveness of the evolving federal approach to higher education. This policy...
Two primary wage-support policies help low-income families: the minimum wage and targeted tax credits. Since 1997, when Congress last raised the minimum wage, the real value of the minimum wage has fallen about 20 percent because of inflation, while the earned income tax credit (EITC) and child...
The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) and later the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) decreased marginal tax rates for four person families with earnings at half the median income and twice the median income. Neither piece of legislation changed the...
For nearly a decade, federal higher education subsidies have increasingly been delivered through the tax code rather than through direct spending programs such as grants, loan subsidies, and work study. This paper reviews the results of using new modules in the TRIM and Tax Policy Center...
Child care's costs can be too high for low-income working families. As of 2004, along with a federal credit for child care expenses, 27 states offered tax credits or deductions to offset these expenses. Thirteen states offered a refundable child care creditat least for low-income families;...
Provisions in the federal income tax code that treat married couples as one tax unit and cohabiting couples as two tax units result in both marriage penalties and bonuses. This analysis uses data from the 2002 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to show the extent to which low-income,...
Encouraging and strengthening marriage continues to move up the U.S. social policy agenda. This analysis uses nationally representative data on cohabiting couples with children from the 2002 round of the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) to assess marriage penalties or bonuses facing...
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), administered through the federal income tax system, is the largest cash assistance program for low-income families. Data from the 2001 National Survey of America's Families (NSAF) show large disparities in who knows about the EITC amongst families with income...
Low-income parents use paid preparers more frequently than other parents. This high reliance may be a good thing. Among low-income parents who know about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) those who receive help are more likely to receive the EITC than their peers who prepare their returns...
Representatives Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Michelle Steel (R-CA) have introduced the Working Families Tax Cut Act to increase the standard deduction – which would increase...
Benefits from safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) and tax programs such as the Earned Income Tax...
President Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget would revive 2021’s enhanced child tax credit (CTC) with some new twists that seek to make the credit work...
In a year when child poverty has risen substantially following the expiration of temporary tax benefits, Washington intransigence over raising the debt ceiling could put...
In 2021, Congress enacted sweeping legislation that temporarily cut child poverty nearly in half . A key feature was the expanded child tax credit (CTC),...
Even though jobs are plentiful and wages are up, many families still face a shaky economic outlook. Higher than average inflation, which tends to hit...
As President Biden and congressional Democrats make another push to reach a compromise on a social spending, climate change, and tax bill, a key issue...
As Congress struggles to develop a scaled back version of President Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan, some observers (including my TPC colleague Howard Gleckman...
In 2021, the Child Tax Credit (CTC), helped nearly all families with children . But this year, because American Rescue Plan (ARP) expansions have lapsed,...
Starting in July, many parents began receiving monthly payments of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). A new IPSOS survey as well as Urban Institute interviews...
As Congress debates whether to extend the major, but temporary, changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) it adopted earlier this year, a crucial question...
Families began receiving monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments on July 15. For many, those regular payments—currently permitted through the end of the year—will combat...
IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig told the Senate Finance Committee on April 13 that the agency could begin delivering monthly 2021 Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments...
