Filing tax forms may not be much fun for anyone, but it can bring relief to struggling families, especially during these tight times. The federal Earned Income Tax Credit lifts more than 4 million people—over half of them children—out of poverty each year; it’s the nation’s most effective antipoverty program for working families. Here’s how it works.

If you hire staff you are in a position to let your employees know about the earned benefits they may be entitled to, using this short, practical guide from the National Human Services Assembly before April 15!

Economic recovery proposals before Congress include tax relief for lower-income working families, including targeted expansions in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). A new Metropolitan Policy Program analysis shows how proposed expansions to the EITC would benefit taxpayers in individual states, metropolitan areas and selected cities around the nation. But there's more! Check out the whole EITC series.

Tax time is upon us—for some low- and moderate-income families, it can bring a major relief. State and federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) programs remove tax burdens for these working families, and are available even to those with incomes too low to be taxed. States that enact EITCs can reduce child poverty, increase effective wages, and cut taxes for families struggling to make ends meet, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Did you know that the Earned Income Tax Credit lifts more families above poverty than any other federal program? Corporate Voices for Working Families recently released its 2006 Employer Guide that builds on its EITC toolkit and offers tips to get the word out to low-wage employees about federal programs that help with tax credits, health care, food, and home heating costs.

Over the past two years, many states tried to balance their budgets by increasing sales and excise taxes, which disproportionately burden low-income working families. At the same time, advocates struggled to improve state Earned Income Tax Credit policies to give these families tax relief. 2005 may offer opportunities to create effective state EITCs, according to this State EITC study. The report summarizes advocacy efforts in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Rhode Island and Utah, and offers strategies for all states.

Many of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) dollars that could help families and communities go unclaimed. This handbook is designed to help eligible Native American families understand how to file for their EITC refund. Those who have been eligible for an EITC refund within the past three years, but have not claimed it, can still file to receive it.

With April 15th fast approaching, families are wrestling with their tax forms and hoping for refunds. A key tool for easing the tax burden on low-income working families is the Earned Income Tax Credit. Fortunately, there's lots of help available online to assist taxpayers in taking advantage of the EITC.

The working poor are in every community, large and small. Analyzing Earned Income Tax Credit claims between 2000 and 2002, this Brookings Institution report tracks the increase in working poor families in cities, suburbs and in rural areas across the country, reflecting the erosion of good jobs and the spread of low-wage work throughout the suburbs, and the continuing economic distress most evident in southern states.

Low-income families are moving to the South to follow jobs -- a sign of families' commitment to work, and the need for strong work supports, like an expanded federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), refundable state tax credits, and affordable child care. Restoring recent immigrants' access to income and work supports would decrease the vulnerability of their children and help these families become financially stable.