Tax Credit Outreach Campaign Introduction

Your efforts to inform low- and moderate income working families about the Earned Income Credit (EIC) are vital to ensuring that millions of such families do not miss out on this valuable federal tax credit during these difficult economic conditions.  Many low-wage tax filers in 2012 may be eligible for an EIC worth up to $5,751.  The boost provided by the EIC and other valuable federal tax credits provide many working families the opportunity to pay their household bills and meet their children’s needs even through salary cutbacks or periods of unemployment.

According to the IRS, each year millions of eligible workers do not claim their credits, missing out on millions of dollars they earned.  In 2011, over 27 million eligible families and individuals claimed Earned Income Credits worth $59.7 billion.  Even if workers don’t earn enough to owe income tax (although they pay federal excise and payroll taxes, as well as state and local taxes), they can qualify for these tax credits, but may not realize it.

The EIC and CTC expansions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 made more workers eligible for larger refunds and they remain in effect for work in 2011.  Refunds in 2010 from the new American Opportunity Tax Credit helped 8.8 million students and working families pay for higher education.  They previously would not have qualified for an education credit because their earnings were too low.

The 2012 Tax Credit Outreach Kit is designed  to help you undertake new outreach efforts or to revitalize an existing campaign.  Here, you will find newly designed outreach materials, fact sheets, and a wide range of outreach strategy ideas drawn from outreach efforts across the country.   Also included is a description of new rules that exclude tax refunds and credits from counting as income in determining eligibility for federal benefit programs such as Medicaid.

If you have any questions, would like to order additional materials, or want to find out about special outreach training opportunities or request technical assistance, please contact: eickit@cbpp.org or 202-408-1080.

Thanks for helping eligible workers claim the tax benefits they’ve earned!

Sincerely,

The CBPP Tax Credit Outreach Campaign Team