Indiana's Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign

Indiana implemented an earned income tax credit campaign in early 2002. The state's family and social services administration (FSSA) worked with former Governor Frank O'Bannon to initiate the campaign, which uses a variety of outreach strategies to promote the tax credit. One strategy that FSSA has relied on is providing information to various community-based service providers, including domestic violence centers, emergency shelters, and Healthy Families and Head Start programs, to encourage them to promote the tax credit to program participants. A second strategy that FSSA has used is to directly target likely EITC-eligible individuals. For example, notices promoting the EITC along with information on how to apply were mailed to all TANF recipients, with information provided in English and Spanish. Information was also printed on child support payments throughout the 2003 tax season.

The goal of this program is to encourage eligible families to utilize the Earned Income Tax Credit.

In addition to the above-mentioned outreach efforts, FSSA has used different public information activities to promote the EITC, including media events and meetings with newspaper editorial boards. In addition, FSSA mailed letters to 350 state legislators, universities, and community-based organizations asking them to educate their employees, clients, and community residents about the benefits of the EITC. outreach efforts have been initiated in Indianapolis, Ft. Wayne, and Lafayette.