In August, Assistant Professor Mary Leto Pareja participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Taxpayer Advocate Service, a division of the Internal Revenue Service, about reforming both the design and administration of refundable tax credits.

Refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Additional Child Tax Credit, the Premium Tax Credit, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, are a critical part of the social safety net program in the United States.

The discussion focused on how to reduce error rates in the credits without unduly burdening legitimate recipients, how to better design the credits so that they are simpler to understand and administer and better reach the target populations, and how to reform administration and audit practices to encourage legitimate recipients to accurately claim the credits.

The discussion ideas will be used by the Taxpayer Advocate Service as it develops a white paper for the United States Congress.

Professor Pareja has extensive experience working with refundable credits through her work in the Business and Tax Clinic. She also has published articles about the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Premium Tax Credit in law reviews.