BOOSTING SNAP BENEFITS CHEAPER THAN CORPORATE TAX BREAKS

A new report outlines four proposals to reduce poverty and expand opportunity for low-income Americans that would cost less than current tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. For example, letting US corporations defer paying taxes on their overseas profits currently costs the treasury almost $65 billion a year. It would cost just 1/3 that amount, $ 21.6 billion, to base SNAP benefits on USDA’s low-cost food plan instead of the basic food plan that is now used. The basic plan yields $1.41 per meal on average in benefits; switching to the low-cost plan would boost benefits by 30%, to $1.83 per meal.

Source: Center for American Progress, 4/14/16, Alternatives to Poverty