How Do You Qualify for the Earned Income Credit?

The earned income credit is a refundable tax credit for low to moderate income working taxpayers. The credit is based on the amount of earned income and is calculated using tax tables.

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Overview of the Earned Income Credit

The Earned Income Credit, or EIC, is a tax credit for low to moderate income earners. To qualify, you must have earned income from working and meet certain other requirements. If you qualify, you can get up to $6,144 back from the IRS.

What is the Earned Income Credit?

The Earned Income Credit, also called the EIC or the Earned Income Tax Credit, is a refundable federal income tax credit for low- to moderate-income working taxpayers. Families that make too little money to owe federal income tax can still receive the credit as a refund.

In order to qualify for the EIC, you must meet certain requirements regarding earned income, filing status, and investment income. You must also have a Social Security Number that is valid for employment in order to claim the credit.

If you have children, they must also meet certain requirements in order to qualify you for the EIC. The child must be claimed as a dependent on your tax return, and he or she must meet certain relationship, age, residency, and joint return requirements.

Generally speaking, the larger your family and the lower your earned income is in relation to your investment income, the higher your EIC will be. The maximum amount of the credit varies based on these factors as well as your filing status.

If you think you might qualify for the Earned Income Credit, you can use the IRS’s EITC Assistant tool to find out for sure.

Who qualifies for the Earned Income Credit?

The Earned Income Credit, also called the EIC or Earned Income Tax Credit, is a refundable tax credit for low- and moderate-income working Americans. To qualify, you must have earned income from a job or self-employment and meet certain other requirements.

If you have no children, you can earn up to $537 per week ($28, 164 per year) and still qualify for the credit. If you have one child, you can earn up to $3,461 per week ($179,772 per year). For two children, the maximum is $5,716 per week ($297,632 per year), and for three or more children, the maximum is $6,431 per week ($333,812 per year).

There are also income limits if your filing status is married filing separately. In that case, you cannot qualify for the EIC no matter how many children you have.

To learn more about qualifying for the Earned Income Credit and to find out if you are eligible, visit the IRS website or speak with a qualified tax professional.

How to Qualify for the Earned Income Credit

The Earned Income Credit, also called the EITC or EIC, is a tax credit for low- and moderate-income workers. To qualify, you must have earned income from working for someone or from running or owning a business or farm. You also must have a valid Social Security number. If you have a qualifying child, you may be able to get a larger credit.

What are the income requirements for the Earned Income Credit?

To qualify for the Earned Income Credit, you must have earned income from working for someone or from running or owning your own business or farm. You also must meet certain rules related to filing status, investment income, and qualifying children.

Your earned income and adjusted gross income (AGI) must each be less than:
$50,162 ($55,952 married filing jointly) if you have three or more qualifying children
$46,010 ($51,400 married filing jointly) if you have two qualifying children
$39,617 ($45,007 married filing jointly) if you have one qualifying child
$14,880 ($20,430 married filing jointly) if you do not have a qualifying child

To find out if your children qualify you for the Earned Income Credit, they must meet these requirements:
Be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly)
Be younger than 19 at the end of the year and not enrolled in full-time schooling OR Be younger than 24 at the end of the year and a student enrolled in full-time schooling OR Any age if permanently and totally disabled OR Any age if they are considered to have a disability that began before age 19 OR Any age if they are your child who provided over half of their own support during the year.

Together with any other children who live with you and meet the relationship test for being your child or a sibling (including step-siblings and half-siblings), these children are called “qualifying children.” A child does not have to live with you all year as long as he or she meets the rules listed above.

What are the qualifying children requirements for the Earned Income Credit?

To qualify for the Earned Income Credit (EIC), you must have at least one qualifying child. A qualifying child for this purpose is a son, daughter, adopted child, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of these individuals. The child must also be (a) under age 19 at the end of the tax year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the tax year, a full-time student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.

Are there any other requirements to qualify for the Earned Income Credit?

To qualify for the Earned Income Credit, you must meet all of the following requirements:
-You must have earned income from working for someone or from running or owning a business or farm.
-You must have filed a tax return for the year in question.
-You must have been a U.S. citizen or resident alien for the entire tax year.
-You cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
-Your investment income must be less than $3,450 for the year.

What if You Don’t Qualify for the Earned Income Credit?

The Earned Income Credit is a refundable tax credit for low- and moderate-income working taxpayers. To qualify, you must have earned income from working for someone or from running or owning a business or farm. You also must meet certain other requirements. If you don’t qualify for the Earned Income Credit, there are other tax credits you may be eligible for.

Are there any other credits or deductions you may qualify for?

If you don’t qualify for the Earned Income Credit, there may be other credits or deductions you can claim. Check the list below to see if you qualify for any of these.

-Child and Dependent Care Credit: You may be able to claim this credit if you paid someone to care for your child so that you could work or look for work.
-Child Tax Credit: You may be able to claim this credit if you have a qualifying child.
-Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled: You may be able to claim this credit if you are 65 years of age or older, or you are retired and receiving pension or disability payments.
-education credits: You may be able to claim an education credit if you (or your dependent) are enrolled in college or vocational school.
-energy efficiency tax credits: You may be able to claim an energy efficiency tax credit if you made energy-saving improvements to your home.
-foreign tax credit: You may be able to claim a foreign tax credit if you paid taxes to a foreign government on income earned outside the United States.
-general business tax credits: There are several different business tax credits that you may be eligible for, depending on the type of business you have.
-health coverage tax credit: You may be eligible for this credit if you are unemployed and have lost your health insurance coverage due to involuntary termination of employment.
-hiring incentives tax credits: You may be eligible for a hiring incentives tax credit if you hire certain qualifying employees.
-household employment taxes: If you hired someone to work in your home, you may be responsible for paying social security and Medicare taxes (known as “household employment taxes”).
-self-employment tax: If you are self-employed, you will need to pay self-employment tax on your net earnings from self-employment.

What if your income or family situation changes?

If your income or family situation changes during the year, it could affect your EIC amount. For example, if you get married or have a baby, you must let the IRS know so we can recalculate your credit.

If you do not have a qualifying child and your income decreases, you may still qualify for the EIC.

If your income or family situation changes after you file your return, and it affects your EIC amount, you may need to file an amended return using Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.