Can Nudges Increase Take-Up of the EITC? Evidence from Multiple Field Experiments

Elizabeth Linos, Allen Prohofsky, Aparna Ramesh, Jesse Rothstein and Matthew Unrath

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 432-52

Abstract: The Earned Income Tax Credit distributes more than $60 billion to over 20 million low-income families annually. Nevertheless, an estimated one-fifth of eligible households do not claim it. We ran six preregistered, large-scale field experiments with 1 million observations to test whether "nudges" could increase EITC take-up. Despite varying the content, design, messenger, and mode of our messages, we find no evidence that they affected households' likelihood of filing a tax return or claiming the credit. We conclude that even the most behaviorally informed low-touch outreach efforts cannot overcome the barriers faced by low-income households who do not file returns.

JEL-codes: C93 D91 H24 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Can Nudges Increase Take-up of the EITC?: Evidence from Multiple Field Experiments (2020)
Working Paper: Can Nudges Increase Take-up of the EITC?: Evidence from Multiple Field Experiments (2020)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200603

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