3 ms·
Increasing the eligibility and amount of the credit is helpful, but doling it out in repeated checks that you then have to go back and report on your 1040 is an
by mbg721 5y ago
Increasing the eligibility and amount of the credit is helpful, but doling it out in repeated checks that you then have to go back and report on your 1040 is annoying. How many news stories are run about people who depend on their annual tax refund for living expenses? Reducing that refund by paying the money out earlier and celebrating it as a free handout is awfully manipulative.
- micromacrofoot 5y agoNot really negatively manipulative IMO, I've worked with many people who don't really understand taxes and they think that a refund is some kind of free money "bonus" and often use it to make frivolous purchases and blow the whole refund at once. Most of these people don't really plan or budget on how to use their refund because they have no idea how much it's going to be, it's just treated as kind of a random winfall. Doling that out in smaller increments and making the purpose specific (child credit, instead of tax refund) seems like a good nudge into better spending habits... especially when the amount is known ahead of time.
- 300bps 5y agothey think that a refund is some kind of free money "bonus" For many people that get the child tax credit, a bonus is exactly what it is. The word you should have put in quotes is “refund”. My sister, for example, used to pay about $1,500 in tax throughout the year yet get a $7,500 “refund”. Isn’t that something? Pay x and get 5x as a “refund”.