Refundable Tax Credits
67 posts
ITEP Comment on Tax Credit Restrictions for Immigrants
• By Carl Davis, Emma Sifre
This proposal would bar a variety of immigrant tax filers from receiving the refunded portion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), and Adoption Tax Credit.
New Estimates of the Total Number of People and Children in Immigrant Families who Could Lose Eligibility for the Refundable Portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit
• By Emma Sifre
Treasury and the IRS proposed a new rule that would further restrict eligibility for the refundable portions of four tax credits. The rule would affect primarily lawfully present immigrants authorized to work in the U.S. and their family members, including their children, the vast majority of whom are citizens.
New Census Data Show Importance of Refundable Tax Credits and Need for Improvements
• By Joe Hughes
The Child Tax Credit actually moved fewer children out of poverty in 2025 than it did in 2024 prior to Congress passing the so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBBA).
The Impact of Proposed New Tax Credit Restrictions for Immigrant Filers: An Updated Analysis of the DACA Recipient Population
• By Carl Davis, Erika Frankel, Emma Sifre
New Treasury Department public regulations would drastically reduce tax credit claims by DACA recipients and their families, among others. We find that 158,000 people in households with at least one DACA recipient will suffer financial harm, and that more than half of the impacted individuals are U.S. citizens.
Five Things to Know About the Trump Administration’s New Effort to Deny Tax Credits to Lawfully Present Immigrants
• By Carl Davis
Today the Trump administration proposed new regulations seeking to drastically reduce the tax credits that certain immigrant tax filers can claim. The affected credits include the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Additional Child Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Adoption Tax Credit.
The Impact of Proposed New Tax Credit Restrictions for Immigrant Filers: An Analysis of the DACA Recipient Population
• By Carl Davis, Erika Frankel, Emma Sifre
We find that 337,000 people in households with at least one DACA recipient will suffer financial harm, and that nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of the impacted individuals are U.S. citizens.
The Impact of Proposed New Tax Credit Restrictions for Immigrant Filers: An Analysis of State EITCs
• By Neva Butkus
Immigrants and their families in as many as 30 states are at risk of seeing their state tax credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) reduced unless state lawmakers act.
New EITC Proposal Would Help Families Dealing with Rising Costs
• By Joe Hughes
A new proposal in Congress to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) would help families with the costs of raising children. The Working Parents Tax Relief Act is one of the latest approaches to help working-class families deal with an ongoing affordability crisis.
Analysis of Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s Approach to Tax Policy
• By Steve Wamhoff
Sen. Chris Van Hollen has recently introduced the Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act, which offers a generous middle-class tax cut paid for with a new tax on millionaires.
The Child Tax Credit Leaves Out Millions of Children in 2026. There Are Better Alternatives.
• By Joe Hughes
The 2025 Trump tax law slightly increased the Child Tax Credit in a way that benefits virtually none of the children who most need help.
Trump Megabill’s Deduction for Car Loan Interest Would Not Offset Tariff-Related Auto Price Increases for Most Buyers
• By Carl Davis, Sarah Austin
The auto loan interest deduction that recently passed the House is designed, at least in part, to mitigate the impact of tariff-induced price increases on vehicles assembled in America. But the deduction is incapable of offsetting even small-scale price increases, especially for working-class families and others with moderate incomes.
Millions of Citizen Children Would be Harmed by Proposal Billed as Targeting Immigrant Tax Filers
• By Emma Sifre, Joe Hughes
Congressional Republicans have floated a proposal to strip the Child Tax Credit from millions of children who are U.S. citizens and legal residents in situations where their parents do not have Social Security numbers. Approximately 4.5 million citizen children with Social Security numbers would lose access to the credit under this proposal.
Expanded Child Tax Credit is Key to Reducing Child Poverty, New Census Data Illustrate
• By Jon Whiten
From 2021-2023, child poverty has more than doubled from 5.2 to 13.7 percent. The latest Census data make clear that lawmakers have the tools to help millions of children and their families – and it’s beyond time they take action.
Here’s a Tip: Keep the Taxation of Tips As-Is
• By Joe Hughes
The no tax on tips idea isn't a new one, but it's always been abandoned because it's practically impossible to do without creating new avenues for tax avoidance. Despite its embrace by the candidates from both major parties, this policy idea would do little to help the roughly 4 million people who work in tipped occupations while creating a host of problems.
Improving Refundable Tax Credits by Making Them Immigrant-Inclusive
• By Emma Sifre, Marco Guzman
Undocumented immigrants who work and pay taxes but don't have a valid Social Security number for either themselves or their children are excluded from federal EITC and CTC benefits. Fortunately, several states have stepped in to ensure undocumented immigrants are not left behind by the gaps in the federal EITC and CTC. State lawmakers should continue to ensure that immigrants who are otherwise eligible for these tax credits receive them.
Our Taxes Can Set Kids Up for Success
• By Brakeyshia Samms
Every child deserves the opportunity to succeed in society – and tax policy has a huge role to play in making that happen. Better tax policy can help prepare our young children with skills to become successful and thriving adults.
Impacts of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act
• By Joe Hughes, Steve Wamhoff
The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act passed by the House of Representatives on January 31 is a compromise between lawmakers who want to address child poverty and lawmakers who want to expand the Trump tax cuts for corporations and therefore includes provisions that do both. It also offsets the costs of those […]
Proposed Tax Deal Would Help Millions of Kids with Child Tax Credit Expansion While Extending Damaging Corporate Tax Breaks
• By Joe Hughes
On January 16, Congressional tax writers officially announced the details of a tax policy agreement. The deal includes expansions of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to improve access for low- and middle-income families as well as expansions of the 2017 Trump tax cuts for businesses. The agreement also includes bipartisan tax priorities tax provisions for […]
Lapse of Expanded Child Tax Credit Led to Unprecedented Rise in Child Poverty
• By Joe Hughes
The new Census data should provide both concern and optimism for lawmakers. The steep rise in child poverty is an inexcusable tragedy. But it shows that child poverty is avoidable when Congress makes the decision to make tax policy for those who need the hand up rather than for the rich and powerful.
Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Advance Racial Equity in the Tax Code
• By Emma Sifre, Joe Hughes
Expanding the federal Child Tax Credit to 2021 levels would help nearly 60 million children next year. It would help the lowest-income children the most and would particularly help children and families of color.
Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Help Nearly 60 Million Kids, Especially Those in Families with Low Incomes
• By Joe Hughes
Restoring the federal Child Tax Credit to 2021 levels would benefit nearly 60 million children. Three-quarters of the benefit would go to families in the bottom three quintiles, consisting of households with less than $86,600 in income.
Why is My Refund So Much Smaller This Year? Only the Good (Tax Credits) Die Young.
• By Joe Hughes
This year millions of American families are finding that their refunds are much smaller than last year—or that they even owe taxes back to the government—because of the expiration of the expanded Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit that were in effect in 2021. The lapse of the expanded credits affects a majority of the middle class, but lower-income households are particularly likely to feel the sting.
Effects of President Biden’s Proposal to Expand the Child Tax Credit
• By Joe Hughes
In his latest budget proposal, President Biden proposes enhancing the Child Tax Credit (CTC) based on the temporary credit that was in effect for 2021 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. In this report we analyze how that proposal would help children and families.
The Tax Deal That Wasn’t: Congress Decides Corporate Tax Cuts Are Too Expensive if it Means Also Helping Children
• By Joe Hughes
Congressional leaders announced their long-awaited omnibus spending package which will fund the government through September 2023. The good news: the bill does not include needless corporate tax giveaways. The bad news: it also leaves out any expansion of the child tax credit.
Child Tax Credit Expansion Would Shrink the Racial Wealth Gap
• By ITEP Staff
Extending the expanded Child Tax Credit would benefit nearly every child in low- and middle-income families. Under current rules, 24% of white children, 45% of Black children, and 42% of Hispanic children will not receive the full credit in 2023 because their families make too little. These figures would drop to zero if the provisions were extended, helping families of all races and disproportionately helping families of color.
Refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) boost the economic security of working families. ITEP examines how such tax credits affect working people’s incomes and how this would change under proposals to modify the credits or create new ones.
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