Elaine Maag

Fact Sheet on the Wyden-Smith Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act | The United States Senate Committee on Finance Fact Sheet on the Wyden-Smith Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act

Less than a year ago, Chair Smith worked with Sen Wyden to promote investing in kids by expanding the #ChildTaxCredit for low-income families. finance.senate.gov/chairmans-ne... Where has that support gone? Today, Ways & Means wants to increase the #CTC for everyone _but_ these families.

Options to Reform the Child Tax Credit in the 2025 Tax Debate

Options that increase the credit for low-income families increase how quickly the credit phases in. My colleagues and I explain here: taxpolicycenter.org/briefs/optio...

17 Million Children In Low-Income Families Will Not Receive The Full Child Tax Credit In 2025 In 2025, the Tax Policy Center estimates that 17 million children under the age of 17—or one in four—will receive less than the full value of the Child Tax Credit because their parents earn too little...

Ways & Means leg text released late last week suggests the #ChildTaxCredit might be increased to $2,500. As explained previously, increasing the max credit won't help low-income families with children who are being hammered by higher costs of living. #CTC taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/17-mi...

Most Americans Are Interested in Using IRS Direct File to Prepare and File Their Taxes This factsheet uses December 2024 data from the Urban Institute’s Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS) to examine interest in using Direct File.

#DirectFile provides a free filing option - direct with the IRS. It's a program I'm interested in, along with 73% of tax filers. My @urbaninstitute.bsky.social colleagues explore new survey data on interest in Direct File. taxpolicycenter.org/briefs/most-...

Policymakers Should Expand the Child Tax Credit for the 17 Million Children Currently Left Out of the Full Credit | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Congressional Republicans may soon release a budget resolution that will set the terms of the tax debate, and which is expected to extend the 2017 tax law, including its changes to the Child Tax...

@cbppsu.bsky.social shows how the 17 million children who will not receive the full CTC because their parents don't earn enough are distributed by state, race, and ethnicity. www.cbpp.org/blog/policym...

Tax News & Views Pauses for Soup Roundup Canada, Mexico tariffs on "pause." China tariffs a go. DOGE "deletes" Direct File - from X. DOGE data access concerns. Soup.

Links include @cadystanton.bsky.social @taxnotes.bsky.social @richardrubindc.bsky.social @wsj.com @taxtweet.bsky.social @financialtimes.com @nytimes.com @politico.com @apnews.com @bloombergtax.com @punchbowlnews.bsky.social @elainemaag.bsky.social and more!

IRS’s Direct File Makes It Easier For Eligible Families To Claim The Earned Income Tax Credit And Child Tax Credit Direct File—the IRS’s new online tool for filing tax returns—may bethe key to getting eligible filers to claim the EITC and CTC.

Direct File, the IRS's free, online tax preparation tool available in 25 states, helps people claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/irss-...

I.R.S. Expands Its Free Tax Filing Option (Gift Article) The Direct File system will be open to millions of taxpayers in 25 states, up from 12 last year. But it’s unclear what will happen to the program next year.

The IRS #DirectFile program provides a free and fair way to file taxes for many. It gets high marks from users and its expansion should continue. This would improve filing options available to taxpayers. It's a great example of how government can work for people. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/24/y...

FYI @margothollick.bsky.social makes the coolest charts. The analysis of how the benefits of expiring TCJA provisions break down? Also cool! tpc.io/3BrvZ8f

House GOP proposes IRS funding cuts, defunding free tax filing system Republican appropriators in the House are proposing to scale back IRS funding and to do away with the free online tax filing system that the Treasury Department recently made permanent and promised…

What? Some members of Congress want to end #DirectFile after a successful pilot year? Consumers liked it! And it's set to roll out add'l capabilities to more people. thehill.com/business/470...

17 Million Children In Low-Income Families Will Not Receive The Full Child Tax Credit In 2025 In 2025, the Tax Policy Center estimates that 17 million children under the age of 17—or one in four—will receive less than the full value of the Child Tax Credit because their parents earn too little...

I'm back at @urbaninstitute.bsky.social and Tax Policy Center after being on detail to the US Treasury for a year. We're looking at 17 million children not getting the full CTC next year because their income/earnings are too low. We can do better. taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/17-mi...

Great senior opportunity in the Income and Benefits Policy Center at the Urban Institute. Let’s work together! www.linkedin.com/mwlite/jobs/...

Great point. It might well be that a slower speed limit has an add’l, though possibly counterintuitive benefit, of reducing average travel times.

The policy also has a cost, which is not mentioned. Every trip taken at the lower speed takes more time, which has some value. That cost may be small relative to the benefits cited, but it ought to be acknowledged. I’m wondering if that acknowledgment is an important piece of communication as well.