Twenty-five percent of all public employees, or more than five million state and local workers as well as one million federal workers, participate in alternative plans to Social Security. These employers and employees do not pay Social Security taxes or receive Social Security credit for their...

Despite the broad and deep reliance on Social Security benefits, very few of the hundreds of millions of current and future beneficiaries understand how the program works. This article presents through a hypothetical couple some of the basic concepts of the Social Security benefits formula

In this article, the authors reply to Professor Robert Moore's economic analysis of several proposals to redesign the earned income tax credit (EITC). (See Tax Notes, July 5, 1993, p. 105.) Moore suggested that the proposed design changes could result in severe work disincentives. Using the new...

In this article, the authors examine the present administrative system for the earned income tax credit (EITC) especially the refinements resulting from enactment of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (OBRA). After describing the problems created by the complexities of the new EITC,...

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” Helen Keller The Access Technology Affordability Act of 2017 (the Act) (H.R. 1734/S.732) provides a refundable tax credit to offset out of pocket expenses of up to $2,500 for “qualified access technology” for qualifying blind...

Every day in its annual spinning rotation around the sun the Earth moves from darkness into light. During these 24 hours more than 1,700 American babies are born into poverty. One newborn is delivered into poverty every single minute of every single day in America. About 900 of these beautiful...

As the country and courts continue to debate the importance of marriage in a variety of contexts, when determining Social Security benefits it is clear that marriage matters. Marriage matters for Social Security benefits planning because of meaningful spouse and survivor benefits. Given the...