Topic: Earned Income Tax Credit

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Income tax refund: five tips for maximizing it

People are always looking for ways to get every dollar back they deserve at tax time. Fortunately, there are some smart moves you can make before April 17 to help maximize your income tax refund. Spending a few minutes now will save you time preparing your taxes and can help you get big savings. Here are five tips to get you started:
Tax filing for the jobless: Five ways to trim your tax bill

Tax filing is never fun, especially for the unemployed, whose income plunged but who still owe taxes. The Internal Revenue Service tried to ease things a bit last year by not fully taxing the unemployment benefits. That offer has expired. Still, there are ways that the unemployed, and newly employed, can lower their taxes this tax-filing season. Here are five of them:

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Robert Reich
Mitt Romney's skewed praise of Bill Clinton

Mitt Romney has been praising Bill Clinton even as he heaps scorn on Obama, trying to associate himself with someone more popular and court the white male vote. It might backfire.
Tax day horror story: taking your money ... and your identity

The IRS is making it a top priority to crack down on the burgeoning tax day scam of identity fraud. In 2011 the agency thwarted $1.4 billion in fraudulent refunds.
Tax VOX
The federal government spends a lot more money than you think

'Federal spending' figures are not reliable markers. In reality, the federal government spends about 30 percent more than it admits.
Income tax refund: five tips for maximizing it

People are always looking for ways to get every dollar back they deserve at tax time. Fortunately, there are some smart moves you can make before April 17 to help maximize your income tax refund. Spending a few minutes now will save you time preparing your taxes and can help you get big savings. Here are five tips to get you started:
Rising child poverty rates could be a 'taste' of what's ahead

A new Census report shows child poverty up since 2007. With many benefits for the poor – such as the Earned Income Tax Credit – expiring at the end of the year, things could get worse.
Tax VOX
Health insurance costs: Will new tax subsidies help?

Health insurance costs  for low and moderate-income earners will be lowered through tax credits when the 2010 health reform law takes effect. But will the plan actually lower health insurance costs?
Letters to the Editor – Weekly Issue of October 31, 2011

Readers write in with ideas on job creation.
Which GOP flat tax plan is fairest of them all?

So far, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich have all introduced flat tax plans, which would lead to less revenue and broader spending cuts, analysts say.
Rick Perry's flat tax plan: Would you have to do your taxes twice?

People could opt for flat tax rate of 20 percent or stick with the current tax system. The Rick Perry plan offers choice, but people might need to do two calculations to tell which is best, some say.
Robert Reich
The flat tax fraud

Conservatives are pushing the flat tax as a smokescreen. They’d rather not have anyone talk about the unfairness and fiscal absurdity of the current system.
Robert Reich
Republican debates have lots of viewers, but no answers

Tonight’s Republican debate may attract lots of viewers. It need not capture their minds.
Tax VOX
What tax credits can do for low-income families

Although tax credits encourage work and subsidize low wages for families with children, they do little for low-income childless families.
Tax VOX
Not all tax breaks are created equal

The meanings behind three popular types of tax subsidies, and who benefits the most from each.
Robert Reich
Budget crisis? No, it's a jobs and growth crisis.

The GOP has everyone convinced that the federal budget deficit is somehow linked to the debt limit, but it isn't
Robert Reich
Obama, try this for a jobs plan

Unemployment is rising, and the president's response has been far from adequate
Tax VOX
How tariff policy can hurt the poor

People working to alleviate poverty should pay attention to something they may not be used to following: tariff policy
Tax VOX
Many tax breaks for kids, but do they work together?

A starting point for policymakers to reform child tax provisions could be to simplify the definition of a child
Robert Reich
President Obama's real proposal (and why it's risky)

Obama said that his budget proposal would cut $4 trillion over the next 12 years. It's difficult to plan for a budget one or two years away, and it's downright unreasonable to plan one for 12 years from now.
Tax VOX
Internal Revenue Service should simplify child-related incentives

Internal Revenue Service should make it easier for people who have children to figure out which tax breaks they qualify for. The internal revenue service should create a uniform definition for children under 19 and eliminate the 'student exception.'
Tax Day 2011: Schedule M could be worth up to $800

On Tax Day 2011, the 'Making Work Pay' tax break, which can be worth up to $800 per household, is one of several tax credits for which filers may be eligible.
Tax filing for the jobless: Five ways to trim your tax bill

Tax filing is never fun, especially for the unemployed, whose income plunged but who still owe taxes. The Internal Revenue Service tried to ease things a bit last year by not fully taxing the unemployment benefits. That offer has expired. Still, there are ways that the unemployed, and newly employed, can lower their taxes this tax-filing season. Here are five of them:
Robert Reich
Budget cuts pour gas on Republican flame

The coming debate over spending cuts has nothing to do with reviving the economy.
Robert Reich
US Chamber of Commerce: Obama makes a bargain

In Obama's speech to the US Chamber of Commerce, the president said his administration will help businesses if they hire more Americans.
The New Economy
Smartphone apps you really want ... from the IRS!?

Smartphone apps – one for the iPhone, one for Android – will tell you when your IRS refund is coming.
Robert Reich
State of the Union: what Obama should say

The president should propose to give average Americans a better economic deal in the State of the Union address.