Elaine Maag

A Redesigned Earned Income Tax Credit Could Encourage Work by Childless Adults

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

May 20, 2015Elaine Maag

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Why Do Taxpayers Leave Money on the Table?

My dad taught a teenage me an important lesson when he helped me file my first federal income tax return. I earned the minimum wage at a part-time job, and didn’t have to file. But he explained that I should file, knowing my effort would be rewarded. “You don’t earn enough to owe income taxes,” he

May 6, 2015Renu Zaretsky

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Obama Would Simplify and Expand Spending and Tax Subsidies for Child Care

President Obama proposed three important changes to the way the federal government helps families with child care costs – increase direct subsidies for low-income families, increase tax credits for middle- and higher income families, and simplify the tax code (and offset some of the cost of the

January 22, 2015Elaine Maag

Federal Budget and Economy: TaxVox

Will Immigrants Get A Tax Windfall From Refundable Credits?

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

December 12, 2014Elaine Maag

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Why the More Generous Child and Earned Income Tax Credits Should Be Made Permanent

co-authored with William G. Gale While most of the tax drama these days is focused on the fate of 50+ mostly-business tax breaks that expired nearly a year ago, lawmakers are also debating two provisions that are enormously important to low- and moderate-income households-the Child Tax Credit (CTC

December 3, 2014Elaine Maag William G. Gale

: TaxVox

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Inversions?

How do you catch a tax and pin it down? Can governments make corporations “ stay and listen to all they say ?” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in his Washington Post op-ed called on Congress to immediately stop corporations from lowering taxes by incorporating overseas. Former Treasury official Steve

July 29, 2014Renu Zaretsky

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

The “Helping Working Families Afford Child Care Act” Would Help, but Doesn’t Solve the Timing Mismatch

The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) does not work for low-income families. It fails on three counts – the credit is nonrefundable, covers only a portion of expenses, and comes long after expenses have been incurred. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Patty Murray (D-

July 28, 2014Elaine Maag

Individual Taxes: TaxVox

Misguided Expansion of the Child Tax Credit

Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-KN) wants to expand the child tax credit (CTC) with the Child Tax Credit Improvement Act of 2014. She’s on the right track, but her proposed expansions are ill-targeted and fail to address the credit’s biggest looming issue: the change in refundability that will hit

June 30, 2014Elaine Maag

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

The Many Moving Parts of Camp’s Tax Reform for Low-Income Families

House Ways & Means Committee Chair Dave Camp’s tax reform plan would make many changes to the two major refundable tax credits aimed at assisting...

March 11, 2014Elaine Maag

Campaigns, Proposals, and Reforms: TaxVox

Questions About Expanding the Childless EITC

As the idea of expanding the “childless EITC” gathers steam, it’s time to start thinking about what the next generation of worker credits should look...

February 5, 2014Elaine Maag