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Beyond Polemics: Poverty, Taxes, And Noncompliance, Michelle Lyon Drumbl

Scholarly Articles

The earned income tax credit (EITC) is perhaps the most significant refundable credit in the U.S. tax system. Designed as an anti-poverty program, it is a social benefit administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Studies show it has a positive impact upon the children whose families receive it. Despite its many positives, however, the EITC is a program that for years has been plagued by taxpayer noncompliance. Though it is believed that the majority of EITC noncompliance may be unintentional, public reports of misconduct and fraud hurt the program’s image and fuel political rhetoric.

This article unpacks the rhetoric. …