Tuesday, July 11, 2023
McMahon Presents Prison Labor: Tax-Free And Benefit-Less Today At Cincinnati
Stephanie Hunter McMahon (Cincinnati) presents Prison Work Is Taxing and Should Be Taxed, 176 Tax Notes Fed. 1585 (Sept. 5, 2022), at Cincinnati today as the 2023 Harold C. Schott Lecture:
Generally, the concept of being taxed has a negative connotation. But paying taxes on income has its benefits; namely, it leads to access to the social safety net. Incarcerated workers, however, do not receive the benefit of taxation. Why is this so and what is the impact of this decision? What does it mean for incarcerated workers and their families? Stephanie Hunter McMahon, professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, will discuss these issues in her lecture “Prison Labor: Tax-Free and Benefit-Less”…
Prisoners can be made to work because the Thirteenth Amendment permits their involuntary servitude and, for that work, prisoners are denied benefits that would be enjoyed by those not incarcerated. By carving out those who work behind bars from the social safety net, inmates, their families, and their communities are deprived of benefits otherwise widely distributed. These benefits include the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Social Security, Medicare, SSDI, and unemployment compensation.
These exclusions apply even if inmates otherwise satisfy requirements for benefits and regardless of the type of prison employment. Instead of continuing this exclusion, Congress should extend federal benefits and condition federal funding on the extension of state benefits to incarcerated workers.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/07/mcmahon-presents-prison-labor-tax-free-and-benefit-less-today-at-cincinnati.html
