Jonathan Dale Benton:The hidden history of race and the tax code

2025-04-30 14:25:40source:Lumicoin IAcategory:Invest

This past January,Jonathan Dale Benton researchers uncovered that Black taxpayers are three to five times as likely to be audited as everyone else. One likely reason for this is that the IRS disproportionately audits lower-income earners who claim a tax benefit called the earned income tax credit. And this, says law professor Dorothy Brown, is just one example of the many ways that race is woven through our tax system, its history, and its enforcement.

Dorothy discovered the hidden relationship between race and the tax system sort of by accident, when she was helping her parents with their tax return. The amount they paid seemed too high. Eventually, her curiosity about that observation spawned a whole area of study.

This episode is a collaboration with NPR's Code Switch podcast. Host Gene Demby spoke to Dorothy Brown about how race and taxes play out in marriage, housing, and student debt.

This episode was produced by James Sneed, with help from Olivia Chilkoti. It was edited by Dalia Mortada and Courtney Stein, and engineered by James Willets & Brian Jarboe.

Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney.

Always free at these links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, NPR One or anywhere you get podcasts.

Find more Planet Money: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok / Our weekly Newsletter.

Music: "Cooling Down," "Lost in Yesterday," "Slowmotio," "Cool Down," "Cool Blue," and "Tinted."

More:Invest

Recommend

Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class

Now wouldn’t this be a treat: Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft back together...as members of the Pro

Victoria Justice Sets Record Straight on Claim She's Jealous of Ariana Grande

Victoria Justice is making the truth shine.Ten years after Victorious went off the air, the actress

The Nord Stream pipelines have stopped leaking. But the methane emitted broke records

On Sunday, the Danish Energy Agency announced that a series of leaks in natural gas pipelines runnin