Recently, the IRS provided its response to my Most Serious Problem addressing EITC issues in the 2017 Annual Report to Congress. I want to reiterate my recommendation that the IRS should provide a dedicated toll-free Extra Help telephone line for EITC taxpayers.I’ve made similar recommendations here, here, and here. The IRS has not agreed to implement my recommendation. Instead, the IRS responded to my latest recommendation by saying, in part: Read More
Can a simple educational letter to taxpayers who appear to have erroneously claimed the earned income tax credit (EITC) actually avert future noncompliance? Based on recent TAS research studies, the answer appears to be yes.
As readers of this blog already know, the EITC is a refundable credit designed to provide financial support to low income working taxpayers, especially those with children in the household. Because it focuses on household composition, the administration of the credit is very complex. While the IRS can generally establish the age of the child from various government databases, and sometimes the parent-child relationship, it cannot easily establish other relationships nor can it independently determine with whom the child lived for over half the year, as the law requires. Read More
The IRS reminds members of the military and veterans that they may qualify for the earned income tax credit. This credit benefits certain people who work and have earned income that’s less than $53,930.
A tax credit usually means more money in the taxpayer’s pocket. The EITC can reduce the amount of tax someone owes, but it might also result in a refund. Here are some things members of the armed forces should know about this credit. These are all specific to the military: Read More
What is the Pennsylvania EITC Program?
The Educational Improvement Tax Credit program allows business donors and accredited individual donors to redirect their annual business and individual income tax liabilities to local schools and charities that help kids from ages 3 to 18.
What tax benefit does a donor receive? Read More
Millions of Americans forgo critical tax relief each year by failing to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal tax credit for individuals who work but do not earn high incomes. Taxpayers who qualify and claim the credit could pay less federal tax, pay no tax or even get a tax refund.
Millions of Americans forgo critical tax relief each year by failing to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal tax credit for individuals who work but do not earn high incomes. Taxpayers who qualify and claim the credit could pay less federal tax, pay no tax or even get a tax refund. Read More
Millions of Americans forgo critical tax relief each year by failing to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a federal tax credit for individuals who work but do not earn high incomes. Taxpayers who qualify and claim the credit could pay less federal tax, pay no tax or even get a tax refund.
Last year, an estimated 21 million taxpayers received approximately $37.5 billion in EITC. However, the IRS estimates Read More
The EITC is for people who work but have lower incomes. If you qualify, it could be worth up to $6,242 in 2015. So you could pay less federal tax or even get a refund. The credit is a refundable credit, so you can receive the benefits of the credit even if you do not owe any taxes. That’s money you can use to make a difference in your life.
Even though this credit can be worth thousands of dollars to a low-income family, the IRS estimates as many as 25 percent of people who qualify for the credit do not claim it simply because they don’t understand the criteria.
If you qualify for but failed to claim the credit on your return for 2012, 2013 and/or 2014, you can still claim it for those years by filing an amended return or an original return if you have Read More
Since 1975, the Earned Income Tax Credit has helped workers with low and moderate incomes get a tax break each year. Four out of five eligible workers claim EITC. Wondering if you can too? Here’s what you should know about this valuable credit:
1. Review your eligibility. If you worked and earned under $52,427 in 2014, you may qualify for the EITC. If your financial or family situation has changed, you should review the EITC eligibility rules because you might qualify for the EITC this year even if you didn’t in the past. If you qualify for the EITC you must file a federal income tax return and claim the credit to get it. This is true even if you are not otherwise required to file a tax return.
2. Know the rules. Before you claim the EITC, you need to understand the rules to be sure Read More
The complexity of completing one’s federal and state income tax returns is not necessarily tied to one’s income level. One of the more complex federal tax rules is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income workers. Could the individual income tax be simpler? Yes. Here are some ideas.
• Make all income you received subject to tax. What is income? Let’s say it is anything that increases your wealth. So, it would be any payment from the government, debt forgiveness, gross wages, employer-provided health insurance, scholarships, gains from selling assets, etc. What would not be income? Borrowing money (it does not increase your wealth because you have an offsetting liability). Receipt of expense reimbursements from your employer (it makes you whole for what you, in essence loaned to your employer Read More
The IRS has failed to clamp down on improper refundable tax credit payments, according to a new federal audit. In all, the IRS said it wrongly distributed as much as a quarter of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) payments, between $11.6 billion and $13.6 billion, according to Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration. Between 2003 and 2012, the IRS erroneously paid out at least $110.8 billion and as much as $132.6 billion, the new report says.
Due to a 2009 executive order, the IRS is supposed to have targets for rolling back those improper payments. But the agency has yet to do so, and the Treasury inspector general says in its audit that the IRS needs to rethink its methods for cutting down on waste in EITC payments.
Russell George, the tax administration inspector general, noted that the IRS had made some strides in stopping inappropriate payments, and in educating taxpayers about EITC eligibility. Still, George said the billions of dollars lost to waste each year was “disturbing.” The IRS must do a better job of reining in improper payments in this and in other programs,” George said in a statement. Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah), the top Republican on the Finance Committee, called on the IRS to “aggressively crack down on these erroneous payments,” insisting the agency’s issue with the EITC “doesn’t bode well” for its oversight of subsidies for President Obama’s healthcare law. Read More
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