[lokar]

And the large number who get a net payment instead would get a check right then?

I don’t think that will accomplish what you expect.

One of the main reasons conservatives and libertarians want filing to be hard is to confuse people into thinking the income tax hurts them, when in reality it benefits many of them.

[r3trohack3r]

Taxes in the US are not due annually. They are due on an ongoing basis.

You do not get a net payment. You paid your taxes throughout the year every paycheck. Your employer likely files quarterly.

At the end of the year, if you tally up your taxes and figure out you’ve given too much of your money to the government, you get some of your money back.

It’s called a refund. Not a payment.

I’d put those ongoing taxes throughout the year into the bucket of “shadow taxes” GP refers to. I suspect many people do not view their refund checks as a no interest short term loan they floated to the government. Their refund check came from their paycheck.

[lokar]

Some very low income workers that get the EIC end up with a net payment.

[r3trohack3r]

TIL!

Every tax form I’ve ever filled out has an instruction like:

> Enter the lesser of lines X and Y

when applying deductions and credits to prevent them from exceeding some value.

I’m surprised to learn that the EIC isn’t clamped like this.

[FrobeniusTwist]

As noted elsewhere, the EITC is a so-called "refundable" credit. It wouldn't serve its intended purpose if it wasn't refundable.

[lokar]

It is a refundable credit