Tax Policy Center

american rescue plan

State and Local Issues: TaxVox

Viewing ARPA Aid for States and Localities Through a Great Recession Lens

As the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) celebrated its two-year anniversary on March 11, some applauded a law that sped an economic recovery while others...
March 14, 2023Richard C. Auxier
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

What Can We Learn from Boston’s Expanded CTC Outreach to Immigrant Communities?

Although last year’s temporary expansion of the child tax credit (CTC) dramatically reduced child poverty across the US, government outreach efforts struggled to connect immigrant families with their tax benefits.
October 7, 2022Aravind BoddupalliLuisa Godinez-PuigLivia Mucciolo
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

States Can Help Reduce the Burdens of Harmful Fines and Fees. Here’s How.

Thanks to surging tax revenues and an unprecedented infusion of federal aid, many states cut taxes over the past two years by lowering individual income tax rates, expanding tax credits, or sending one-time checks to residents. But there is another way states can use these funds: reduce or eliminate some local criminal legal fines and fees.
September 27, 2022Aravind BoddupalliKim S. Rueben
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The Profound Philosophical Disagreement Over The Refundable Child Tax Credit

Often, tax policy debates can be settled by splitting the difference. You like a tax rate of 28 percent. I prefer 20 percent. Let’s settle...
January 28, 2022Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

What If Congress Made The Child Tax Credit Taxable?

As my colleague Elaine Maag noted the other day , Democrats are squabbling again (or is it still) over how to structure the Child Tax...
January 12, 2022Howard Gleckman
State and Local Issues: TaxVox

Cities Provide an Early Look at How Governments Are Advancing Racial Equity

While advancing racial equity has been a top priority for the Biden Administration , mayors were attempting to tackle unequal access to wealth and opportunity...
December 27, 2021Aravind BoddupalliLourdes GermánTracy Gordon
: TaxVox

Where Are Families Most At Risk Of Missing Out On The Expanded Child Tax Credit?

The expanded and fully refundable child tax credit (CTC) will lift millions of children out of poverty in 2021. But many very low-income children may...
October 21, 2021Aravind Boddupalli
Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

TPC: The Ways & Means Reconciliation Bill Would Raise Taxes On High Income Households, Cut Taxes On Average For Nearly Everyone Else

All major provisions of the House Ways & Means Committee’s budget reconciliation tax bill would cut 2022 taxes on average for households making $200,000 or...
September 28, 2021Howard Gleckman
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Whose Child Is It Anyway? The Ways & Means Definition Makes It Harder for The IRS To Know

To paraphrase Tolstoy , all simple families are alike; each complicated family is complicated in its own way. So when the tax code aims to...
September 27, 2021Janet Holtzblatt
Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Families Planned to Use Child Tax Credit to Pay Bills but Some Were Confused About Eligibility

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...
September 15, 2021Elaine MaagPoonam GuptaElaine Waxman