California Policy Lab

Some of our nation’s most important anti-poverty programs are increasingly distributed through federal and state tax systems. This is true of the recent pandemic-related stimulus checks, but is also true of ongoing programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC). These credits can provide a substantial financial boost to low-income Californians, but many of these households are at high risk of not receiving these tax credits because they are not required to file taxes. Understanding who does not receive these credits despite being eligible can shed light on how to ensure that all eligible Californians receive them. In this brief, we share the first-ever estimate of the CalEITC Take-up Gap, including the number of Californians enrolled in CalFresh who did not receive the CalEITC in 2017 and the dollar amount unclaimed.

This work has been supported, in part, by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives grants MRP-19-600774 and M21PR3278.