National Women’s Law Center & Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality: A Tax Code for the Rest of Us — A Framework & Recommendations for Advancing Gender & Racial Equity Through Tax Credits
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Proposal Overview
Name: National Women’s Law Center & Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality: A Tax Code for the Rest of Us — A Framework & Recommendations for Advancing Gender & Racial Equity Through Tax Credits
Year: 2019
Sponsoring Organization and Key Author(s):
Sponsoring Organization:
The National Women’s Law Center is a nonprofit organization that engages in legal and policy work on issues affecting women and girls. For this brief, the National Women’s Law Center partnered with the Georgetown Center on Poverty and Inequality (GCPI), which conducts research and works with
policymakers, practitioners, and individuals with lived experience to inform policies and practices related to poverty and inequality U.S.
Key Authors:
Melissa Boteach, Amy K. Matsui, Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Kali Grant, Funke Aderonmu, and Rachel Black
Program Details
Overview: Policy report documents the inequities of current tax code and direct spending programs. It highlights opportunities and challenges for advancing equity through refundable tax credits. The report offers a framework for using refundable tax credits as a tool to provide: more economic security and wealth-building; broader participation in the workforce for women and people of color; and advances in overall economic, gender, and racial equity.
The report criticizes non-refundable tax credits as disproportionately benefiting higher income individuals. It details how current federal support for caregiving expenses is inadequate and inequitable, particularly noting the flaws of the nonrefundable Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) for low-income working caregivers who often rely on informal care arrangements.
Major Legislative Recommendations
Financial Supports for Family Caregivers
Tax Credit/Deduction for Caregiver Expenses
Recommends refundable tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to support unpaid family caregivers. It opposes nonrefundable tax credits because many low-income families, who are disproportionately women and families of color, cannot benefit them.
The report applies its policy framework to reform proposals for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which can apply to caregiving for a spouse or dependent of any age who cannot care for themselves and lives in one’s household for at least half of the year, arguing that while direct spending should be the primary policy tool, a refundable tax credit can serve as a complementary policy to fill gaps.