EITC "You earned it"

[PIGLEE]

I heard a public announcement last night on the radio. It was from IRS, about being sure you claim the EITC. They ended with the phrase "This money is yours, "YOU HAVE EARNED IT".

WHAT??? Just how did they EARN IT?. What can I do to EARN IT?

I think I just have to pay more, so they can get it? I can't EARN IT. Is that discrimination?

Sorry, that phrase just got me very high on my soap box.

I know a lot of people that it really helps and I am glad to see them get it, but I see others that just abuse the system. Then I think, just how much extra I have to WORK to get a spendable $5,666.00.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, I feel better now.

[MAW TAX]

I heard a public announcement last night on the radio. It was from IRS, about being sure you claim the EITC. They ended with the phrase "This money is yours, "YOU HAVE EARNED IT".

WHAT??? Just how did they EARN IT?. What can I do to EARN IT?

I think I just have to pay more, so they can get it? I can't EARN IT. Is that discrimination?

Sorry, that phrase just got me very high on my soap box.

I know a lot of people that it really helps and I am glad to see them get it, but I see others that just abuse the system. Then I think, just how much extra I have to WORK to get a spendable $5,666.00.

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest, I feel better now.

I agree with you. The IRS should not say it that way. Many of the recipients are not aware that other people have to pay for it with money they earn and work hard for. It has become a game for some to earn just enough money, have the proper number of children, stay unmarried and divide the children, to get the maximum.

Yes, they do work hard to get it. Maybe the IRS *is* right! .

[Bert73]

Was it this one?

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=215984,00.html

I hate to say it and it may come off as snobby, but this is how most EICT clients think.

[Roberts]

The EITC is a welfare type of program that you only qualify for if you have earned income. The purpose of the program is that you EARN qualification by working instead of people sitting at home doing nothing but having babies to qualify.

When I did my state continuing education a few years ago, they stressed very clearly and repeatedly that it is our job to educate people on HOW they qualify and WHY they are receiving the money and to not just brush over it and say yippie - you get some money.

[Jesse]

It's also a major source of income for many of the larger tax prep franchises, which in my opinion is why it will never disappear. They have many very powerful lobbyists.

[DaveO]

Without getting into the politics of whether people earned it or not I think refundable tax credits pervert the system. The tax system should serve to collect the funds needed for the functions of a limited federal government and not serve to directly redistribute wealth. For one thing it's off budget and can't be directly voted on. If cash assistance to the working poor is deemed to be good public policy then it should be budgeted and voted on after open debate.

[Burke]

I agree wholeheartedly and couldn't have said it better.

[JohnH]

The EITC is a welfare type of program that you only qualify for if you have earned income. The purpose of the program is that you EARN qualification by working instead of people sitting at home doing nothing but having babies to qualify.

When I did my state continuing education a few years ago, they stressed very clearly and repeatedly that it is our job to educate people on HOW they qualify and WHY they are receiving the money and to not just brush over it and say yippie - you get some money.

It's OUR JOB to educate people on the how and why?
OUR JOB?
They were joking - right?

[Gretel]

If everyone would get paid a fair wage for work done we would not need welfare programs for people who work. I bet those employers or managers who make tons of money but pay minimum wage to their workers also think THEY are paying for EITC. They don't think they could pay their workers a better wage so they would not need EITC.

Some single moms have to work two jobs just to make it. If they are lucky they get some child support. How much of the expenses for a child is covered if dad pays maybe $200/month?

As I have stated before this is a rather complex issue.

And, don't forget, we all come naked and go naked.

[joanmcq]

I didn't mind the EITC when it simply refunded a part of the payroll taxes, which are regressive, and did give a bit of an incentive to those at the bottom of the pay scale. But now? How do you earn it by having kids? Yes, it costs a lot to raise the lil buggers and hopefully those lil buggers will be paying my social security in 16 years. Of course, not if they are collecting EITC....

[veritas]

What is

If everyone would get paid a fair wage for work done we would not need welfare programs for people who work. I bet those employers or managers who make tons of money but pay minimum wage to their workers also think THEY are paying for EITC. They don't think they could pay their workers a better wage so they would not need EITC.

Some single moms have to work two jobs just to make it. If they are lucky they get some child support. How much of the expenses for a child is covered if dad pays maybe $200/month?

As I have stated before this is a rather complex issue.

And, don't forget, we all come naked and go naked.

a fair wage? Is it not what an employee agrees to accept in exchange for their labor?

.

[AZ-Tax]

Your earned it, same could be said for $225K taxpayer...

Yes AZ resident taxpayer whose AGI is $225K. You earned it, your entire investment deduction in the first yr for "materially participating" in an Oil/Gas Partnership with wells located in PA while never ever stepping foot in PA not to mention absolutely doing nothing in the form of materially participating.. Yes the same type of deductions those self emplyed people get who are really physically actively involved in their job for 12 hrs a day, 6-7 days a week. Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the question about "materially participating" also appear on Sch C,...yes, will the real Materially Participator please stand up.

Who ever told you taxes and/or life is fair, well the traditional answer would have been "they lied" but today "fair" comes in many creative descriptions as it best fits the agenda the person who is using the word has.

[Jesse]

a fair wage? Is it not what an employee agrees to accept in exchange for their labor?

.

Sometimes you have to take what you can get, in my opinion that doesn't always equate to fair.

[Gretel]

Sometimes you have to take what you can get, in my opinion that doesn't always equate to fair.

Excellent point. Don't we all "take what we can get"? Some tax preparers philosophy is that if the client doesn't complain, the fee is not high enough. So then, what is the anger about EITC recipients take what they can get?

[BHoffman]

Horror of horrors, what if we all discover that there has recently been a "wage bubble", similar to the housing bubble, where the prices were artifically inflated beyond what the true and free market could absorb? What if wages, including benefits packages, were priced too high? And what if lower wages and a decreased standard of living are the new normal? Does everyone receive compensation for this through EITC, food stamps, housing assistance, etc.? How does spreading pain over all of the taxpayers help? It's a good way to spread poverty, not wealth.