EITC Holds Benefits for Low-Income Households
As part of their tax reform push, House Republicans are weighing the costs and benefits of various tax credit refund programs. A new brief from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) explores the benefits of two such tax credits, the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). While the CTC is broadly available to middle-class households and only partially refundable for poor households, the EITC holds greater potential to provide targeted support to poor and low-income households, according to the brief. The authors argue that an expanded EITC could boost supplemental wage incomes for low-income households, but note that the proposed Republican plan does not mention the EITC.