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Brief

Providing Federal Assistance for Low-Income Families through the Tax System

A Primer

Frank Sammartino, Eric Toder, Elaine Maag
July 16, 2002
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Abstract

The federal income tax system has been used in a number of ways to promote favored forms of consumption and investment and to help selected groups of taxpayers. Since the mid-1980s, Congress has increasingly used the federal tax code to support social programs. This trend is likely to continue. We document provisions of the tax code that are aimed at low-income families including their history and recent changes. We also provide a review of literature surrounding the effect of these provisions. Finally, we discuss important differences in spending and tax programs. Understanding tax programs targeted toward low-income families is particularly important at a time when spending programs are being scaled back.

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Federal Budget and Economy Individual Taxes
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Meet the Experts

  • Frank Sammartino
  • Eric Toder
    Institute Fellow and Codirector, Tax Policy Center
  • Elaine Maag
    Senior Fellow, Research
Research report

New Evidence on The Effect of The TCJA On the Housing Market

Robert McClelland, Livia Mucciolo, Safia Sayed
March 30, 2022
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