Weekly News Round-up: September 21, 2015

Here are some highlights from the past week’s news on family tax credit issues. Remember – you also can track news coverage throughout the week by visiting our website, where you can filter news by a specific credit and/or state.

  • The U.S. Census Bureau released its annual poverty data, showing that while poverty remains at an unacceptably high rate, safety net programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) are making a significant impact on those living at or near the poverty threshold (TCWF, CLASP, The White House, CBPP 2, CNN Money).
  • Congress is gearing up to debate the extension of certain tax provisions this fall, and advocates are working hard to ensure that any deal to extend tax benefits for corporations includes making permanent key provisions of the EITC and CTC (CAP, Tax Justice Blog).
  • We wrote about the Center for American Progress’ proposal to create a high-quality child care tax credit (TCWF).
  • More than a year after protests rocked the community, the Ferguson Commission released a plan for targeting poverty in the city and recommended the creation of a Missouri state EITC and CTC (NPR).
  • Intuit, the software company that owns Turbo Tax, came out against legislation that would complicate the Schedule EIC, the form taxpayers use to collect the EITC. In an op-ed, the company argued that simplifying the tax code would be a better way to reduce EITC error rates (The Hill).
  • The American Enterprise Institute compiled a list of five questions every presidential candidate should have to answer on poverty (AEI).
  • Karen Barsell, CEO and president of the United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra, wrote about the need for Congress to renew expiring provisions of the EITC and CTC (Reno Gazette Journal).