Randomized Control Trial (RCT). In a randomized control trial, researchers can estimate the effect of a program or intervention by comparing the outcomes of program participants with the outcomes of a randomly assigned “control group” that does not participate in the program. RCTs are considered the gold standard in policy research.
REA (Retirement Equity Act of 1984). An amendment to ERISA that provided some minimal rights for spouses. (See ERISA.)
Refundable Tax Credit. Most tax credits may be used to reduce tax liability, but provide no further benefit after tax liability is erased. Refundable tax credits may be paid out as a refund in excess of tax liability. Unlike other tax credits, the refundable portion of tax credits is scored as an outlay in government budget accounts—that is, that portion of a tax credit's revenue cost is treated the same as direct spending.
Refund anticipation loans (RALs) and refund anticipation checks (RACs). Refund anticipation loans are secured by a taxpayer’s expected refund. These interest-bearing loans, made by banks through tax preparers and tax preparer software, allow taxpayers to receive an advance on their tax refund. The amount is based on the taxpayer’s anticipated refund, minus tax preparation fees and additional loan and preparation fees, and secured by and directly repaid from the taxpayer’s IRS refund.
Refund anticipation checks allow taxpayers who do not have bank accounts to get their refunds faster than they would waiting for a paper check. With RACs, banks open temporary accounts on behalf of the taxpayer, the IRS directly deposits the consumer’s refund into the account, and then the bank issues the consumer a paper check or debit card, minus fees. RAL recipients get their loan within one to three days. RAC recipients get their refund within two weeks (on the same schedule as IRS direct deposit refunds for taxpayers who file electronically).
Refugee/Asylee. A person admitted to the U.S. because of fear of persecution in the home country.
Replacement Rate. The ratio of retirement benefits (from Social Security or employer-sponsored plans) to pre-retirement earnings.
Rent-Seeking. Looking for extraordinary profits due, for instance, to scarcity, monopoly, asymmetry of information, or segmentation of market demand into different price-sensitive categories.
Restrictive Formularies. A drug plan that reimburses only the costs of certain drugs (i.e., generics), limiting access to more expensive prescription drugs.
Retired-Worker Benefit. Monthly Social Security benefit paid to those ages 62 or older on the basis of their earnings (not their spouses' earnings).
Retirement Earnings Test. Rule by which Social Security benefits are withheld from workers below the normal retirement age who earn more than a certain amount. (Also known as earnings test.)
Revenue Neutral. A term applied to tax proposals that have no net cost—in other words, proposals in which provisions that raise revenues offset in equal value provisions that lose revenues. (See also deficit-neutral.)
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