Over the past forty years, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has become established as one of our nation’s most effective antipoverty programs. In 2013, over 27 million working families and individuals received the EITC, and 9 million were lifted out of poverty. The federal tax credit has been shown over and over to encourage and reward work, boost incomes, and offset federal payroll and income taxes.
A number of recent proposals are taking a closer look at the timing of EITC delivery, proposing alternatives to the lump-sum payment model. A pilot project in Chicago led by the Center for Economic Progress explored quarterly EITC delivery in advance of the tax filing deadline; the Center for American Progress has proposed an early partial refund; and the CFED Rainy Day EITC proposes a partial deferral plus a savings match.
This webinar, Exploring Alternative EITC Payment Models, explores these alternative models, as does the associated report from the Brookings Institute, Periodic Payment of the Earned Income Tax Credit Revisited.
