AU Newsletter
February 2005
~ HUD and IRS Partner to Expand Tax Aid to Working Poor ~
HUD and the IRS have established an agreement and cross referencing and information provision that could help millions of low-income working families, currently living in either government funded public housing, or participating in other assisted living programs. This inter-agency agreement would expand the National Tax Assistance Program by informing and educating this segment of the population in making use of the earned income tax credit and the child care tax credits that families in higher income brackets have known about and used to their benefit.
A spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who was offering background information on a landmark agreement between this agency and the Internal Revenue Service, confirmed in a telephone conversation, following a webcast news conference and ceremonial agreement signing, that many low-income families are unable to afford better housing than where they live because, in part at least, too much of their income has been used to pay taxes.
"This could help take care of some of that," he predicted. "My mission is to provide families with the tools and opportunity to achieve the American Dream," said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. "Here is what our agreement will do. HUD will supply the IRS with a list of those who benefit from our major programs. This list will include public housing authority, housing counseling agency, fair housing assistance program, neighborhood network sites, continuing care and others."
At that point the IRS has committed itself to provide information material, free tax preparation, and tax credit information. Jackson illustrated the impact this agreement could have when he noted that only 25 percent of taxpayers that qualify for the various credits never claim them. "We will disseminate information on how the credits can be used to build assets," he said.
IRS Commissioner Mark Everson followed Jackson's presentation by stating his commitment to making sure that justifiable funds are returned to working families. "We're talking about real money that is used to lift people from poverty," Everson said. "This is a model that we believe can be extended to other organizations in the federal government and that's so terribly important. The more we can do to share and leverage our capabilities to help citizenry the better off we will all be."
Last year alone, 21 million families with two or more children qualified for the Earned Income Tax Credit alone. These refunds offered as much as $4,300 to each of the families that need it the most. The HUD background spokesman said that for many low-income families there is a misconception that they do not qualify for these credits.
"The thing is, they do not bother to ask because they do not realize they are eligible [for the tax credits and deductions]," he said. "These are not exclusively HUD related. It is that these people often do not know about their legal entitlements."
"When individuals own something," Jackson concluded during his presentation, "they have a greater stake in their community, a greater way of life for themselves and their families."