I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2756

To direct the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish an earned income 

credit public awareness campaign to increase public awareness and educate Americans of the earned income credit. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2003

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL

To direct the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish 

an earned income credit public awareness campaign to 

increase public awareness and educate Americans of the 

earned income credit.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Earned Income Credit 

5 Public Awareness Campaign Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) In 2001, the earned income credit provided 

2 over $30,000,000,000 in tax relief to 18,500,000 

3 low-income taxpayers. 

4 (2) The earned income credit is the second larg5 est program, after Medicaid, that provides assistance 

6 to low-income individuals combating poverty. 

7 (3) Data from the United States Census Bu8 reau Current Population Survey indicates that in 

9 1999, the earned income credit assisted 4,700,000 

10 people, including 2,600,000 children of low-income 

11 workers, to rise above the poverty line. 

12 (4) Each year, between 15 and 25 percent of 

13 those who are eligible to receive the earned income 

14 credit fail to claim their credit, either because they 

15 are unaware of it or cannot obtain the assistance 

16 they may need to properly complete the appropriate 

17 tax return. 

18 (5) Lack of education, language barriers, fear 

19 or intimidation, limited financial resources, and 

20 unawareness of the earned income credit all con21 tribute to low-income families and individuals not 

22 taking advantage of the credit. 

23 (6) The Taxpayer Advocate’s Fiscal Year 2002 

24 Annual Report notes, ‘‘The laws and regulations 

25 governing family status in the Internal Revenue 
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1 Code are numerous and complex. As a result, tax2 payers must often seek the service of paid tax pre3 parers to claim credits and benefits on returns. Low 

4 income taxpayers are particularly susceptible to this 

5 need. They rely extensively on paid preparers to as6 sist in navigating the intricacies of the Earned In7 come Tax Credit’’. 

8 (7) 2002 Internal Revenue Service data indi9 cates that nearly 68 percent of earned income credit 

10 recipients pay someone to prepare their tax returns, 

11 and fewer than 1 in 10 have their tax returns pre12 pared for free by the Volunteer Income Tax Assist13 ance program. 

14 (8) An estimated $994,000,000 in earned in15 come credit refunds were paid by the taxpayer di16 rectly to tax preparers and related businesses for 

17 costs associated with preparation, filing, loans, and 

18 check cashing. 

19 (9) Many low-income families and individuals 

20 are disproportionately disadvantaged in meeting the 

21 financial obligation of hiring tax preparers and pur22 chasing tax preparation products. 

23 (10) According to the Taxpayer Advocate’s Fis24 cal Year 2002 Annual Report, ‘‘The Internal Rev25 enue Service must undertake a significant consumer 
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1 education campaign so that low income taxpayers 

2 are able to make informed choices between tax pre3 parers and tax preparation products’’. 

4 (11) Increasing public awareness about the 

5 earned income credit will lead to increased utiliza6 tion of the credit by low-income families and individ7 uals. 

8 SEC. 3. EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT AWARENESS CAM9 PAIGN. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL CAMPAIGN.—The 

11 Commissioner of Internal Revenue (hereafter in this Act 

12 referred to as the ‘‘Commissioner’’) shall establish and 

13 carry out a national public awareness campaign to educate 

14 Americans of the availability of the credit allowable under 

15 section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (here16 after in this Act referred to as the ‘‘earned income credit’’. 

17 (b) SPECIAL TARGETED CAMPAIGN.—In carrying out 

18 subsection (a), the Commissioner shall make special ef19 forts to conduct outreach to—

20 (1) low-income families and individuals; 

21 (2) students; 

22 (3) single parents; 

23 (4) businesses and corporations; 

24 (5) limited English proficient individuals; 

25 (6) transient workers; and 
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1 (7) military personnel. 

2 (c) EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out sub3 section (a), the Commissioner shall make special efforts 

4 to—

5 (1) produce and distribute educational mate6 rials to be distributed nationwide to groups identi7 fied under subsection (b); 

8 (2) conduct a targeted media campaign high9 lighting the earned income tax credit; 

10 (3) encourage businesses and corporations to 

11 make available and distribute educational materials 

12 produced under paragraph (1) to their employees; 

13 and 

14 (4) make educational materials available to 

15 public libraries, post offices, State agencies, and 

16 other public locations where tax information and 

17 forms are readily available or tax preparation serv18 ices are offered. 

19 (d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—

20 (1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

22 thereafter, the Commissioner shall submit to the 

23 Congress a report detailing the activities carried out 

24 by the Commissioner under this section and section 
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1 5 of this Act and recommendations for amendments 

2 to this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT STATE GRANT PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner shall make 

6 grants to State agencies for the purposes of carrying out 

7 an earned income credit Statewide public awareness cam8 paign in conjunction with the national campaign under 

9 section 3. 

10 (b) ALLOTMENTS.—The Commission shall allot to 

11 each State for each fiscal year an amount which bears the 

12 same ratio to the amount appropriated to carry out sub13 section (a) for such fiscal year as the total amount of 

14 earned income credit claims made by residents in that 

15 State on returns filed during the second preceding fiscal 

16 year bears to the total amount of earned income credit 

17 claims on returns filed during such second preceding fiscal 

18 year. 

19 (c) REQUIREMENT OF MATCHING FUNDS.—To be eli20 gible to receive an allotment under this section, a State 

21 shall provide matching funds to a grant made available 

22 under this section. 

23 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive an allot24 ment under this section, a State shall submit an applica25 tion to the Commissioner at such time, in such manner, 
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1 and containing such information as the Commissioner may 

2 require. 

3 (e) ACCOUNTABILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 

4 allotment under this section, within 180 days of receiving 

5 an allotment, a State shall submit to the Commissioner 

6 a detailed report indicating steps taken by the State to 

7 implement subsection (a) of this section. 

8 (f) FUNDING.—No less than 25 percent and no more 

9 than 50 percent of the funds appropriated to carry out 

10 this Act shall be made available to carry out this section. 

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF FUNDS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro13 priated to the Internal Revenue Service $15,000,000 for 

14 each of fiscal years 2004 through 2014. 

15 (b) LIMITATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

16 Not more than 3 percent of the funds appropriated to 

17 carry out this Act shall be spent on administrative costs 

18 of the Internal Revenue Service.

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