Harnessing Tax Credits for California Working Families

On Monday, September 27, the California Asset Building Program at the New America Foundation co-hosted, Harnessing Tax Credits for Working Families, a one-day symposium inspired by the release of our report, Left on the Table, on the economic impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). We estimate that in 2009, approximately 800,000 Californians, about one in five who are eligible, failed to claim $1.2 billion in EITC refunds alone. When federal refunds such as EITC go unclaimed, low-income families lose, California businesses lose and the state’s economy loses.
 
This one-day learning session provided useful tools and best practices on what policymakers, practitioners, and community based organizations can do to inform and to increase the number of eligible families that claim and save available federal tax credits such as the EITC.

The event was co-sponsored by the California Department of Community Services and Development, California/Nevada Community Action Partnership in partnership with the New America Foundation, California Department of Social Services, Catholic Charities of California, County Welfare Directors Association, New America Foundation, SingleStop USA and Western Center on Law and Poverty and WEConnect,

Participants