Improving Direct File, Supporting Children
TIGTA recommends improvements to IRS Direct File. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), in its report released yesterday on the Direct File pilot, made three recommendations. It called for updating the eligibility tool, including additional text in the Spanish-translated version, and establishing numerical benchmarks to track performance. The IRS has agreed with the first two recommendations and partially agreed with the third.
Can we spare children the tax roller coaster? TPC’s Gene Steuerle and the Urban Institute’s Cary Lou examine the largest category of federal support for children. The rise in fall in value of these tax provisions—the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the dependent exemption—affects their ability to support family finances and reduce poverty. Steuerle and Lou suggest that Congress reform its budgeting, reset the nation’s priorities, and better support families with children.
Tax relief for some Pennsylvania homeowners is on the way. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro recently signed the first expansion of Pennsylvania’s Property Tax/Rent Rebate program since 2006. Pennsylvanians aged 65 and older are eligible for the program, as well as widows and widowers aged 50 and older, and people with disabilities over 18. About 442,000 Pennsylvanians will start receiving a share of the $266 million in rebate checks on July 1. Last year, the state distributed about $132 million in rebates to approximately 283,000 homeowners.
Boston’s office slump could mean higher taxes or a big budget cut. Either city residents will end up paying much higher property taxes or the city could have to cup $400 million from its budget. Legislators have to decide whether to accept a plan to increase the tax rate ceiling for commercial properties to offset a steep slump in office building values. A third of Boston’s tax revenue is tied to commercial property tax revenue.
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