Stay Informed!

By Kim Pate on 01/30/2012 @ 04:30 PM

Tags: EITC, Events

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the nation's most effective anti-poverty programs. The EITC is a refundable tax credit primarily for individuals and families who have low or moderate incomes. Greater tax credit is given to those who also have qualifying children. EITC can be a major financial boost for working people, particularly those suffering in a recovering economy. But, many hard-hit families do not even know that this vital credit exists. In fact, millions of workers will qualify for the EITC for the first time this year.

Because roughly one in five taxpayers who qualify for EITC doesn’t claim it, the National Community Tax Coalition (NCTC) organized EITC Awareness Day for last Friday, January 27. This national grassroots effort spotlighted the transformative power of the tax credit. NCTC believes that with the right tools, 100% of EITC-eligible individuals will claim the tax credit and boost their own financial security.

In conjunction with EITC Awareness Day, CFED joined about a dozen national partners to host a policy briefing on Capitol Hill. Held on Thursday, the briefing brought together several key speakers who recognize the importance of tax time in helping low- and moderate-income families save. One statistic that really stuck out to me during the briefing was that in 2010, the EITC kept 6.6 million people out of poverty, half of whom are children. According to the IRS, last year over 26 million workers received nearly $59 billion from EITC refunds – which helped with paying the rent, buying groceries, covering utility bills, and handling other pressing needs.

Given how successful the EITC has been in helping keep families out of poverty since its inception in 1975, I can only imagine how many more families would benefit were the program to be expanded and if all eligible families took advantage of this important tax credit.

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