For years, BEA has provided state-by-state information on people’s incomes, which includes refundable tax credits and rebates. But BEA did not break out the refundable tax credit statistics.
Now, for the first time, BEA is making available the amounts and types of federal refundable tax credits broken out for each state, giving policymakers, researchers and academics a new tool for economic analysis.
The new data, available on BEA’s website, includes information on the earned income tax credit and the additional child tax credit. The data are available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia from 1976 through 2014.
Policymakers can use the data to design and implement tax and economic policies. Researchers and academics can use the data for insights into the distribution of income in a state or across states. The data also can be used in analyzing poverty.