What Difference Would Ryan’s EITC Expansion Make for Childless Workers?

We’ve explained that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposed expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless adults, including non-custodial parents, would encourage work and reduce poverty.  This interactive chart allows you to compare the EITC that childless workers at different income levels would earn under current law and under the Ryan expansion, which mirrors a proposal from President Obama.

For example, the EITC for single childless worker making poverty-level wages (we estimate $12,566 in 2015) would jump from about $170 under current law to about $840 in 2015 under the Ryan and Obama proposals.

The Ryan and Obama plans would, starting in 2015: lower the EITC’s eligibility age for workers not raising minor children from 25 to 21, double the maximum credit to about $1,000, and phase in the credit more quickly as a worker’s income rises.  (Unlike Chairman Ryan, President Obama would also allow workers aged 65 and 66 to claim the credit.)

The big difference between the Ryan and Obama plans, as we’ve noted, is the proposed “offsets” to pay for them (not reflected in the interactive above).  Several of Ryan’s offsets would hit low-income and other vulnerable families, while the President would pay for his EITC expansion by closing tax loopholes for wealthy taxpayers.

Nevertheless, it’s encouraging that leading members of both parties recognize the need to do more for the lone group that the federal tax system taxes into poverty.