Poor people get "credits" and rich people get "breaks"...it's the language, stupid.

[Horse with no Name]

For instance...around here in the Tea Party wallow...people are aghast when a single mom takes her tax break (in the form of an EIC) and buys a flat screen TV...yet laughed when a local rich business guy was in New York recently and wanted some fresh tomatoes from Texas and has his pilot fly back and get him some?
This is the same man who is federally subsidized up to his Stetson in our tax money.

Taxpayers feel upset if they have to pay more--because in their eyes, "credits" come out of THEIR pocketbook, yet they must think that "breaks" come from unicorns that piss rainbows and shit glitter.
But there is ALWAYS that disconnect.

The side glances at the poor spending "their hard earned tax dollars" is never shared when ogling the rich and powerful when they display their toys for the world to see.

It's all in the message delivery.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. It's their world

and we should all be kissing their pasty rumps in appreciation of their generosity for allowing us to coexist with them.

[Blue Owl]

2. The poor get vouchers -- the rich get vacations.

The poor get boned -- the rich get bonuses.

It's all part of the Grand Old Plan.

[7wo7rees]

3. Great observation

[hfojvt]

4. that sorta reflects reality though

Take a guy making $10,000,000 in dividend income. His tax rate gets cut from 30% to 15%. That means his tax bill goes from $3,000,000 to $1,500,000. Meaning he gets to keep another $1,500,000 of his hard earned, err, job creating money. The government does not GIVE him anything, simply takes less.

Now for a $30,000 couple with two children. With the EIC, (and the accursed child tax credit) their tax bill goes from zero to negative $3,232. The lower income couple gets much more than they paid in. Their $3,232 credit does not come from their own income, it comes from the taxes of a single guy who makes less money than they do.

Now, you might note that they also paid $2,295 in FICA taxes and that their employer also paid $2,295 in FICA taxes in their name, so they sorta paid another $4,590 in Federal taxes.

BUT, in theory those FICA taxes are not exactly taxes. Not in the same way that the government takes your money and uses it to build a road or buy a B-52 bomber or pay the salary of the librarian at the reference desk. Instead that FICA money is all paid back, with interest, when a person retires or becomes disabled or dies and starts collecting benefits. So if the EIC is credited against FICA taxes then at some point the lower income couple is gonna be collecting Social ssecurity benefits that they have not paid in to.

[AverageJoe90]

5. IMO, the terms should've been switched.

'Nuff said, really.