THE EARNED INCOME-TAX CREDIT - PARTICIPATION, COMPLIANCE, AND ANTIPOVERTY EFFECTIVENESS

This paper examines the participation rate of the earned income tax cr edit (EITC). After examining a variety of data sources on EITC recipie ncy, my preferred estimates indicate that 80 to 86 percent of eligible taxpayers received the credit in 1990, which implies that fewer than 2.1 million taxpayers entitled to the credit failed to receive it. I t hen examine factors correlated with nonparticipation and find that man y are consistent with rational or voluntary explanations for nonpartic ipation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the labor market inc entives and antipoverty effectiveness of the credit before and after t he August 1993 expansion of the EITC.