Tax Credit Incentives to Chinese Immigrants in the Greater Los Angeles Area

• In Event: Impacts of Taxes, Privatization, and Land Right

Abstract

This study explores how Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles understand and perceive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC), how they respond to these credits in terms of labor behavior, and how their behaviors might shift with a deeper understanding of the programs.  Drawing on interviews with 32 Chinese immigrants, the study provides new qualitative data that addresses gaps in the literature concerning Chinese immigrant experiences with U.S. tax benefits and offers contextual insights to complement quantitative research on how these credits influence labor outcomes.  Findings reveal that limited awareness is largely shaped by language barriers, cultural norms, and misinformation, particularly regarding immigration status and eligibility.  Although a briefing session clarified benefit rules, it did not increase the number of respondents willing to adjust their work behavior (14 before and after), but it did influence individuals’ perceived eligibility and motivations.  Labor responses were closely tied to job flexibility, caregiving responsibilities, benefit size, and other structural constraints such as health insurance coverage.  The study also identifies program dilemmas, including regional cost-of-living mismatches that exclude some financially strained households from benefits, and compliance issues like adjusted gross income (AGI) manipulation that undermine program intent.  These findings underscore the need for more culturally and contextually responsive approaches to improve equitable access to, and behavioral impact of, the EITC and CTC.  The first section of this paper introduces the EITC and CTC programs, explores the complexities of understanding these programs, and outlines the research questions for this study.  The second section reviews relevant literature and presents propositions related to the research questions that guide the coding process.  The third section details the research site, unit of analysis, and data collection and analysis methods.  The fourth section lists the findings.  Finally, the last section addresses issues related to the study's credibility and provides concluding remarks.

Author

• Huang Chen, George Washington University
  Presenting Author