A collaborative effort in the Ninth Federal Reserve District has created an alternative to traditional refund anticipation loans that gives workers fast access to tax refunds at little cost.

Sandy Gerber  
Community Affairs Senior Project Manager

Since its inception in 1975, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has been lauded as one of the most important income-enhancement programs for low-wage workers. The program provides refundable tax credits to people who are working but whose earnings fall below a certain level. For tax year 2008, the eligibility threshold for a married couple filing jointly, with two or more children, was more than $41,000. The amount of the credit was up to $4,824, depending on a worker's income, marital status, and number of qualifying children. In 2007, almost 24 million working families and individuals received EITC refunds, which provided close to $48 billion in additional income.