January brings relief. This is the start of “tax season,” when everyone Chanel knows rushes to file for their “refund”—the special tax breaks given to low-income families. The largest of these is the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can bring a cash subsidy of thousands of dollars to a family like Dasani’s. Administered by the Internal Revenue Service, this is one of the largest antipoverty programs in the country, helping more than 27 million families.
