The earned income credit, or EIC, is a refundable credit for workers who meet certain requirements and file a tax return. Persons with or without a qualifying child may claim the EIC. The maximum credit you can get will depend on whether you have no qualifying children, one qualifying child, or more than one qualifying child. Additionally, the maximum credit possible can change each year due to inflationary adjustments. See Publication 596, Earned Income Tax Credit, to find the maximum credit available. Publication 596 is available for download, or you may request a copy by calling 1–800–829–3676.

To claim the earned income credit, you must have earned income. For the year you are filing, earned income includes all income from employment, but only if it is includable in gross income. Examples of earned income are wages, salaries, tips, and other taxable employee compensation. Earned income also includes net earnings from self-employment. Earned income does not include amounts such as pensions and annuities, welfare benefits, unemployment compensation, worker's compensation benefits, or social security benefits. For tax years after 2003, members of the military who receive excludable combat zone compensation may elect to include it in earned income.

If you have investment income of more than the limit allowed for the taxable year, you may not claim the EIC. Investment income includes taxable interest, tax exempt interest, dividend income, capital gain net income, certain income from rents or royalties, and certain income from passive activities. It does not include gains from selling business assets. For more information, refer to Chapter 1 Rules for everyone, in Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.

To claim the EIC, your filing status must be single, head of household, qualifying widow or widower, or married filing jointly. You cannot claim the EIC if your filing status is married filing separately.

You (and your spouse, if filing jointly) must each have a valid social security number issued by the Social Security Administration. Any qualifying child listed on Schedule EIC must also have a valid SSN. You cannot claim the EIC if you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) have a social security card that says "not valid for employment" and the number was issued so that the cardholder could receive a federally funded benefit, such as Medicaid. If you fail to provide a social security number for yourself (and your spouse, if filing jointly), the EIC will not be allowed.

If you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) are a qualifying child of another person, you cannot claim the EIC.

If you file Form 2555 (PDF), Foreign Earned Income, or Form 2555EZ (PDF), Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, you cannot claim the EIC.

If you are a nonresident alien, you can claim the EIC only if you are married to a United States citizen or resident, and you file a joint return and are taxed as a resident for the entire taxable year.

To claim the EIC with a qualifying child, you must have one or more qualifying children. A qualifying child is a child who meets certain relationship, residency, and age requirements. To meet the relationship test, the child must be your:

• Son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, or a descendant of any of them,
• Brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them, or
• Eligible foster child (a child placed with you by an authorized placement agency).

An adopted child (or a child placed with you for adoption by an authorized placement agency) is treated as a biological child.

To meet the residency test, the child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the tax year. Military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to live in the United States during that period for EIC purposes.

To meet the age test, the child must be under age 19 at the end of the taxable year, or under age 24 at the end of the taxable year and a full–time student during any part of any 5 months during the taxable year, or any age if permanently and totally disabled. Refer to Chapter 2, Rules if you have a qualifying child, in Publication 596 for exceptions to the time your child must have lived with you.

Your qualifying child must have a valid social security number issued by the Social Security Administration. If your qualifying child does not have a social security number or if your child's social security card reads "not valid for employment" and the number was issued solely so that the child could receive a federally funded benefit, such as Medicaid, you cannot claim the EIC on the basis of that qualifying child. More information on social security numbers for purposes of the EIC can be found in Chapter 2, Rules if you have a qualifying child, of Publication 596.

For tax years 2002 and later, if two or more persons have the same qualifying child, they can choose which one will claim the credit using that child. If more than one actually claims the credit using the same qualifying child, only one will be entitled to claim the credit using that child, as follows:

• The parents, if they file a joint return,
• The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent,
• The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are parents of the child,
• The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, or
• The person with the highest AGI, if none of the persons is the child's parent.

To claim the EIC without a qualifying child, you must meet three additional requirements: age, dependency, and residency. To meet the age test, you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) must be at least age 25, but under age 65 at the end of the taxable year. You meet the dependency test if no one else can claim you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) as a dependent on their return. If someone else can claim you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) as a dependent, but does not, you still cannot claim the EIC. To meet the residency test, you (and your spouse, if filing jointly) must live in the United States for more than half the year. Military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to live in the United States during that period for EIC purposes.

To claim the EIC, both your earned income and adjusted gross income must be less than the limit for the number of qualifying children, for the year you are claiming the credit. You can find these limits in Publication 596.

You must use Worksheet A or Worksheet B in the Form 1040 Instructions, Form 1040A Instructions, or Form 1040EZ Instructions to figure this credit, or the IRS can figure the credit for you. If you want the IRS to figure the credit, carefully follow the steps in the instructions for your tax return or refer to Publication 596. This publication is also a valuable source for information on the earned income credit in general. If you file your return electronically, the credit will be figured for you. For more information about filing electronically, see e-file at the bottom of the IRS.gov homepage.

If you expect to qualify for the EIC in the current year, you may be able to receive part of it in advance during the year. To see if you qualify to receive advance EIC, refer to Topic 604.