Whose Child Is This? Shifting of Dependents Among EITC Claimants Within the Same Household

Larrimore, Jeff; Mortenson, Jacob; Splinter, David

doi:10.17016/feds.2017.089

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 22 publications

(13 reference statements)

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“…Because of data limitations, our analysis focuses on family complexity at a particular time; the share of families affected by ambiguity in tax filing is likely to affect a much larger share of families if we were to follow families over time, as children may be claimed in different tax filing units over the course of childhood (Tong 2014;Splinter, Larrimore, and Mortenson 2017). As noted earlier, we may overestimate the number of children with nonresident parents because of parental death or assisted reproduction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Family Complexity, and Children’s Living Arrangements

Michelmore

Pilkauskas

2022

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parents and their partners, children are also increasingly likely to live with other extended family members (Pilkauskas and Cross 2018). In 2018, more than 15 percent of children lived with adults who were not their parents or their parent's partners (Harvey, Dunifon, and Pilkauskas 2021). Complexity in children's living arrangements is also closely linked with socioeconomic status and race-ethnicity: children from low-income and non-White households experience greater complexity than their more affluent peers (Harvey, Dunifon, and PilkauskasThe Earned Income Tax Credit, Family Complexity, and Children's Living Arrangements k ather ine m. michelmor e a nd natash a v. pilk ausk as Demographic shifts over the last half-century have resulted in dramatic changes in family structure. These changes have implications for the social safety net because public assistance programs define families differently. This article focuses on a critical poverty-alleviation policy, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), to document family complexity in the United States. We find that more than 60 percent of children in lowerincome families reside in households with ambiguity in tax filing and thus in claiming valuable credits. Tax filing ambiguity driven by family complexity is especially common among households with Black children, highlighting significant racial inequities in the tax treatment of complex families. We also consider two reforms to reflect the realities of families today: the childless EITC and a noncustodial parent EITC.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Family Complexity, and Children’s Living Arrangements

Michelmore

Pilkauskas

2022

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“…For example, how children will be claimed on tax returns may conflict with reporting in survey data. Jones and O'Hara () and Splinter, Larrimore, and Mortenson () find that some households with multiple tax units appear to reassign dependents to lower tax liabilities.…”

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Who Pays No Tax? The Declining Fraction Paying Income Taxes and Increasing Tax Progressivity

Splinter

2018

Contemporary Economic Policy

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Using federal individual income tax data, this paper presents the first long‐run estimates of the fraction paying no income tax. Between 1985 and 2015, the fraction of working age adults paying no tax increased from 20% to 36%. A decomposition shows that almost all of this increase resulted from changes in tax policy, especially from more generous tax credits. Increasing tax progressivity over the last three decades also resulted from more generous tax credits. The substantial federal tax changes enacted in 2017 are forecasted to temporarily increase both the fraction paying no tax and individual income tax progressivity. (JEL H22, H24, H31)

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Whose Child Is This? Shifting of Dependents Among EITC Claimants Within the Same Household

Cited by 2 publications

References 22 publications

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Family Complexity, and Children’s Living Arrangements

The Earned Income Tax Credit, Family Complexity, and Children’s Living Arrangements

Who Pays No Tax? The Declining Fraction Paying Income Taxes and Increasing Tax Progressivity

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