EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT PRE-CERTIFICATION
WHEREAS, in 1999, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) lifted 4.7 million people, including
2.5 million children, above the poverty line-more than any other federal aid program; and
WHEREAS, currently, the value of the EITC credit is $32 billion, to the benefit of 18.4 million
hard working, low income families; and
WHEREAS, the EITC represents money earned by hard working, low income families and in no
way represents a give-away; and
WHEREAS, the EITC provides enormous economic benefit to our communities because
recipients spend their EITC dollars on goods and services within our communities; and
WHEREAS, beyond reducing poverty, the EITC promotes work, reduces income inequity and
helps low income working families build assets; and
WHEREAS, the IRS has recently proposed a new "pre-certification" process in which many
EITC applicants must be "pre-certified" before they can apply for an EITC benefit; and
WHEREAS, the extensive documentation required for this pre-certification may be difficult, if not
impossible, to obtain within the proposed six month deadline and will inevitably deter many eligible
families from even applying for the EITC benefit to which they are entitled under federal law; and
WHEREAS, the IRS appears to be targeting low income working families applying for the EITC
benefit while not requiring pre-certification for tax shelters purchased by corporations or tax
benefits claimed by higher income individuals; and
WHEREAS, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) has introduced legislation, H. R. 1894, that prohibits
the IRS from implementing, without explicit congressional authorization, new requirements for the
EITC beyond that already permitted under the current law,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors
opposes IRS initiatives to impose new, burdensome requirements on hard working, low income
families applying for the EITC; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors supports H. R.
1894 to prohibit new EITC requirements without proper congressional authorization.
©2003 U.S. Conference of Mayors 
