Pilot Project to Assess Validation of EITC Eligibility with State Data

Mike Pergamit, Elaine Maag, Devlin Hanson, Caroline Ratcliffe, Sara Edelstein, Sarah Minton

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) annually delivers over $60 billion to low-income working families. The Office of Management and Budget identifies the EITC as having the highest improper payment rate among 13 high error programs. We explore whether state SNAP and TANF administrative data can be used by IRS to reduce erroneous payments and target outreach efforts. Too few EITC claimants receive TANF to make the TANF data useful. SNAP data are unlikely to be useful during pre-refund audits, but may be helpful in audit case selection or in flagging erroneous EITC claims for people without custodial children.

---

Usage and reprints: Most publications may be downloaded free of charge from the web site and may be used and copies made for research, academic, policy or other non-commercial purposes. Proper attribution is required. Posting UI research papers on other websites is permitted subject to prior approval from the Urban Institute—contact [email protected].

If you are unable to access or print the PDF document please contact us or call the Publications Office at (202) 261-5687.

Disclaimer: The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Copyright of the written materials contained within the Urban Institute website is owned or controlled by the Urban Institute.