Targeting Access and Knowledge of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Utilization and Policies (TAKE-UP)
August 14, 2025 updated by: Rita Hamad, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
The earned income tax credit (EITC) is the largest United States poverty alleviation program, providing up to $6,600 for working families as a tax refund.
Prior studies have shown the EITC's benefits for social outcomes and health.
Effects are even more significant for single mothers and Black women.
Despite these known benefits, 20%-33% of eligible individuals do not receive benefits, leaving $7 billion unclaimed annually.
The Targeting Access and Knowledge of EITC Utilization and Policies (TAKE-UP) Study is a pilot randomized controlled trial that will develop and test the feasibility of several culturally tailored, scalable interventions to increase the take-up of the EITC among participants in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
Study Overview
Status
Completed
Conditions
Study Type
Interventional
Enrollment (Actual)
84
Phase
- Not Applicable
Contacts and Locations
This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.
Study Locations
-
-
California
-
Sacramento, California, United States, 95834
- California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
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-
Participation Criteria
Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
- Adult
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Enrolled in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC)
- Eligible for but did not receive the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the prior tax year
- At least one dependent under 18 years
- Having earned income (including income of spouse, if applicable) for the current tax year within EITC eligibility thresholds based on marital status and number of dependents
- English or Spanish-speaking
- Living in California and not planning to move within the next year
- Immigration status compatible with EITC eligibility
- Access to a phone that receives text messages
- Willing to share relevant fields from tax forms if filing taxes (e.g., adjusted gross income)
- Willing to be randomized.
Study Plan
This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Other
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: None (Open Label)
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
|---|---|
|
Active Comparator: Information about free tax-filing support
Basic information about where to find free tax filing support in their community will be provided to all participants by email once upon enrollment.
|
Basic information about where to find free tax filing support in their community will be provided to all participants by email once upon enrollment.
|
|
Experimental: Low-touch text messaging
To address families' lack of awareness of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the ways they may benefit from filing taxes, one study arm will receive low-touch text messages.
These act in part by increasing awareness of programs and eligibility rules and in part as reminders to overcome limited attention to filing.
Study participants receiving this intervention will receive behavioral science-informed text messages in English or Spanish from WIC that inform them about the EITC throughout tax season (i.e., January-April) 2024.
We will personalize message contents (e.g., EITC benefit size mentioned in message based on participant income, marital status, and number of dependents) due to suggestive evidence that a tailored, individualized text message has the potential to be effective
|
Basic information about where to find free tax filing support in their community will be provided to all participants by email once upon enrollment.
To address families' lack of awareness of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the ways they may benefit from filing taxes, one study arm will receive low-touch text messages.
These act in part by increasing awareness of programs and eligibility rules and in part as reminders to overcome limited attention to filing.
Study participants receiving this intervention will receive behavioral science-informed text messages in English or Spanish from WIC that inform them about the EITC throughout tax season (i.e., January-April) 2024.
We will personalize message contents (e.g., EITC benefit size mentioned in message based on participant income, marital status, and number of dependents) due to suggestive evidence that a tailored, individualized text message has the potential to be effective
|
|
Experimental: Personal tax filing support
Participants randomized to this intervention will be connected with a human assistor who will work with them to ensure they access resources to help them file taxes and apply for the EITC.
The English- and Spanish-speaking assistors will be study team staff trained to provide personalized support to help families access resources for which they are eligible.
The assistor will be available by text or phone to talk with people if they encounter barriers and will call to follow-up on a mutually agreed upon schedule.
|
Basic information about where to find free tax filing support in their community will be provided to all participants by email once upon enrollment.
Participants randomized to this intervention will be connected with a human assistor who will work with them to ensure they access resources to help them file taxes and apply for the EITC.
The English- and Spanish-speaking assistors will be study team staff trained to provide personalized support to help families access resources for which they are eligible.
The assistor will be available by text or phone to talk with people if they encounter barriers and will call to follow-up on a mutually agreed upon schedule.
|
|
Experimental: Financial assistance
Participants randomized to this intervention will receive a $100 cash incentive for tax filing, designed to offset the time, hassle, and resources spent on tax preparation and filing, as well as psychological frictions like inattention that prevent some people from filing.
This will be provided to recipients as soon as they show proof of tax filing, to provide a more immediate reward relative to the delays in receiving a federal tax refund.
We will test the feasibility of delivering this via gift card, check, or other modalities, in addition to evaluating the framing and incentive amount.
|
Basic information about where to find free tax filing support in their community will be provided to all participants by email once upon enrollment.
Participants randomized to this intervention will receive a $100 cash incentive for tax filing, designed to offset the time, hassle, and resources spent on tax preparation and filing, as well as psychological frictions like inattention that prevent some people from filing.
This will be provided to recipients as soon as they show proof of tax filing, to provide a more immediate reward relative to the delays in receiving a federal tax refund.
We will test the feasibility of delivering this via gift card, check, or other modalities, in addition to evaluating the framing and incentive amount.
Other Names:
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of participants who filed taxes
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Determine whether participants filed taxes in the 2022 tax year
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Number of participants who received the EITC
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Determine whether participants received the EITC in the 2022 tax year
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
|---|---|---|
|
Number of participants living with material hardship. Survey instrument: Housing Insecurity/Instability/Homelessness Questions from Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network (SIREN) at University of California San Fransisco (UCSF)
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Evaluate an individual's level of material hardship: whether participant can afford housing, medical care, utilities/if their housing has basic utilities like stove/refrigerator.
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Number of participants living with depressive symptoms. Survey Instrument: General Anxiety Disorder-7
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Evaluate an individual's level of depressive symptoms with a 5 point scale for how often depressive symptoms were experienced.
Lowest point on scale: none of time, highest point on scale: all of the time.
Higher points on scale indicated higher levels of depressive symptoms.
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Number of participants living with food insecurity.
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
6-item United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food security scale.
Lowest point on scale: Never true, Highest Point on scale: Often true.
Higher points on scale indicated higher levels of food insecurity.
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Number of hours spent tax filing
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Amount of hours participant spent tax filing
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Number of participants living with anxiety/perceived stress. Survey Instrument: General Anxiety Disorder-7
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Evaluate an individual's level of anxiety/perceived stress with a 5 point scale for how often anxiety/perceived stress was experienced.
Lowest point on scale: none of time, highest point on scale: all of the time.
Higher points on scale indicated higher levels of anxiety/perceived stress.
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
|
Amount of money spent on tax filing
Time Frame: 0-12 months after intervention
|
Dollar amount that participant spent on tax filing
|
0-12 months after intervention
|
Collaborators and Investigators
This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.
Collaborators
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Wendi Gosliner, DrPH, University of California Nutrition Policy Institute
Study record dates
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.
Study Major Dates
Study Start (Actual)
March 1, 2024
Primary Completion (Actual)
June 1, 2025
Study Completion (Actual)
July 1, 2025
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
November 7, 2023
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
November 21, 2023
First Posted (Actual)
November 24, 2023
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Actual)
August 19, 2025
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
August 14, 2025
Last Verified
August 1, 2025
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Other Study ID Numbers
- CA-0221018
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
UNDECIDED
IPD Plan Description
Interested and qualified third-party researchers can apply to access de-identified data used in this study by contacting the PIs.
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
No
product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.
No
This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.