Memo from DC: More clarity, please
After a week spent solidifying support for the VITA Act of 2011 and protection of tax credits for working families, NCTC’s policy-and-advocacy team has returned from Washington, DC ready to tighten up the communications strategies supporting those priorities.
Sean Noble serves as NCTC's Director of Public Policy & Research
Among other things, during discussions with policymakers and national partners, the team repeatedly heard that policy discussions in DC are being hampered by the often-repeated observation that “about half of Americans pay no federal income taxes.” The resulting impression is that low-income people are dodging tax obligations – and thus that there’s less need to protect the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and similar credits from cuts in deficit-reduction work.
But facts matter, such as the facts that:
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Plenty of those who owe no federal income tax are nonetheless paying payroll taxes, excise taxes and other federal taxes
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For about half of those who owe no federal income tax, that tax liability has been erased simply by standard deductions and personal exemptions
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Only about 15 percent of people paying no federal income tax are the beneficiaries of the EITC or other such credits for working families – and, again, many of them are paying other federal taxes as well as state and local taxes
These facts must be made clearer and more simple to help keep things in proper context and sustain the EITC and similar credits, the NCTC team heard during their visit – a visit intended to help the team build relationships and make the case for maintaining those tax credits, as well as supporting the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
Three of the four core team members are relatively new to NCTC:
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Civic Engagement Manager Gail Parson
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Civic Engagement Coordinator Jennifer Thall
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Public Policy & Research Director Sean Noble
Along with Policy Analyst Holden Weisman, they joined NCTC Government Relations Consultant Serena Lowe in Washington for discussions with policymakers and partners. The meetings helped staff in their efforts to prepare for Day of Action events next month.
On Oct. 13, NCTC members will flock to Washington in asking Congress to maintain the EITC and similar credits for families in need, as well as to pass the VITA Act of 2011 to strengthen tax preparation services for low- and moderate-income households.
