Book contents
- Tax Credits for the Working Poor
- Tax Credits for the Working Poor
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 A History of the EITC
- 2 Why the United States Uses Lump-Sum Delivery
- 3 How Inexpensive Administration Creates Expensive Challenges
- 4 Importing Ideas
- 5 Reimagining the Credit
- 6 Making a Case for Year-Round EITC Delivery
- 7 Protecting the Antipoverty Element
- 8 Beyond EITC Delivery and Administration
- Index
5 - Reimagining the Credit
Why and How to Restructure the EITC
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2019
- Tax Credits for the Working Poor
- Tax Credits for the Working Poor
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 A History of the EITC
- 2 Why the United States Uses Lump-Sum Delivery
- 3 How Inexpensive Administration Creates Expensive Challenges
- 4 Importing Ideas
- 5 Reimagining the Credit
- 6 Making a Case for Year-Round EITC Delivery
- 7 Protecting the Antipoverty Element
- 8 Beyond EITC Delivery and Administration
- Index
Summary
Chapter 5 presents the argument for why and how the United States should reimagine the EITC. Drawing on social science research, it argues that the framing of social benefit programs matters, both to recipients and to the general public. It makes the case for splitting the EITC into two distinct parts, as other scholars and policy makers have proposed in the past: (1) a work-support credit to offset the regressive nature of payroll or self-employment taxes; and (2) a family-support credit to offset poverty. It proposes decoupling EITC delivery from the tax return filing process. Drawing upon ideas from Canada and New Zealand, the chapter also proposes more radical changes, such as determining income based on household composition rather than marital status, allowing parents who share custody to share the credits, and adjusting the size of the credits regionally or locally according to cost of living.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Tax Credits for the Working PoorA Call for Reform, pp. 111 - 141Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019