Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit: A Simulation of Tax Year 1976

According to this simulation analysis of the 1976 tax year, families residing in the South would receive over 43 percent of benefits from the earned income tax credit, a refundable tax credit enacted into law as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975. It was assumed in the simulation that the tax credit would be in effect throughout the 1976 tax year. About 34 percent would go to families in rural areas and almost 7 percent to farm families. About 18 percent of the benefits would accrue to families with incomes under $4,000, 56 percent to families with incomes between $4,000 and $8,000, and the rest to families with incomes over $8,000