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Research Archive

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September 19, 2024

Government benefit programs already do a lot to help low income families

…work and have no tax liability do not benefit at all from the CTC. Proposals to increase the generosity of the CTC would generally increase the maximum amount and allow…

August 24, 2024

Harris’s Child Tax Credit Proposal Could Backfire, Perpetuating Poverty

…increased dollar amounts have attracted most of the attention, a key motivation for these proposals is to ensure working families with low incomes receive the maximum credit. Working families who…

April 9, 2024

The Child Tax Credit: My Long-Read Q&A with Kevin Corinth

…as “middle class tax relief.” That’s not really what it was. It was in the sense that it increased that maximum payment, but you’re right, the fundamental change was that…

March 28, 2024

An Early Look at the Child Tax Credit Changes in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

…providing corporate tax relief, the legislation would change the CTC in four ways. First, the maximum CTC benefit would be indexed to inflation. Second, the maximum refundable credit would increase…

March 4, 2024

Social conservatives who care about marriage should think twice about a “per-child” refundable Child Tax Credit

…encourage marriage, they should focus on increasing the maximum CTC benefit rather than increasing the CTC’s phase-in for families with multiple children. 72% of single moms work. It is thus…

February 27, 2024

Options for Improving the Child Tax Credit Provisions in H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

…H.R. 7024, we recommend several improvements to its CTC provisions, including provisions to retain and provisions to drop. Provisions to Retain Increase the Maximum CTC to Account for the Rising…

January 29, 2024

Per-Child Benefit in Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit Bill Would Discourage Full-Time Work for Families with Multiple Children

…amount as the maximum non-refundable CTC. Second, it would begin indexing the maximum non-refundable CTC with inflation. Third, it would apply a one-year lookback for qualifying for the refundable portion…

January 29, 2024

Let’s Not Turn the Child Tax Credit Into Welfare

…the maximum per-child benefit would be pegged to inflation, allowing it to rise above $2,000 in future years. A heated debate over these changes has quickly emerged. Democrats have emphasized…

January 19, 2024

The Work Incentive and Employment Effects of Eliminating the Child Tax Credit’s Annual Income Requirement

…Tax Credit’s annual income requirement by allowing individuals to calculate their eligibility using their current or prior year’s income, whichever year maximizes the family’s benefit. We show that for the…

January 12, 2024

Congress Shouldn’t Expand Welfare in Return for Corporate Tax Cuts

maximum benefit. Adopting the 2021 maximum credit amounts of up to $3,600 would cost upwards of $80 billion per year. Modest reforms to the Child Tax Credit that support working families could…