wonderful example so assuming some social and economic provisions ought to be in the tax laws, let s think about tax credits. every dollar of tax credit saves you one dollar. it doesn t matter what your marginal tax bracket is. so if you owe a thousand dollars and you get a thousand dollar tax credit, you don t owe anything. if you owe a million dollars, you owe a million minus $1,000. now, the tax credits also should be refundable in many cases where they are social programs because a refundable tax credit like the earned income tax credit which says people who are working but don t earn a living wage are going to get extra money to help them have a living wage. and so if you make it refundable if you don t owe the income tax, you ll get a direct grant. both commissions said that about the home mortgage interest deduction, replace it by a credit. congress ignored that. finally, you might have the largest credit for people who need the help most and the least credits for pe