Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

The earned income tax credit (EITC) is a federal tax credit. It helps low-to-moderate income workers and their families get a tax break.  It may make your federal income tax refund bigger.  Tax rules can change.  This information is for tax year 2025 for taxes you file in 2026.

• You must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien for the whole year for which you are filing.
• You must have a valid social security number for you, your spouse, and children you claim.
• Your investment income must be less than $11,950.
• You can’t claim the EITC if someone else claims you as a “qualifying child.” (See next question below.)
• You can claim EITC and file as “married filing separate” if you live with your qualifying child for more than half of the year and:
   You didn’t live in the same household as your spouse for at least the last 6 months of the year for which you are filing, OR
   Are legally separated according to state law and you didn’t live in the same household as your spouse at the end of the year.   

You can claim a “qualifying” child for EITC. This means:

• The child is:
• The child lived with you in the U.S. for more than half of the year for which you are filing, AND
• The child is younger than you and:

-  your child by birth or adoption, your stepchild

-  your grandchild

-  your brother, sister, stepbrother, or stepsister. 

You can also claim the child of any of these relatives. You must have cared for the child as your own, AND

-  under age 19 on December 31st for the year for which you are filing or

- under age 24 on December 31st if they were a full-time student for at least 5 months of 

    the year.

The age of the child doesn’t matter if they are permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year for which you are filing.

You can claim an eligible foster child. An eligible foster child is a child placed with you by an authorized agency.  The child must have lived with you for at least 6 months and 1 day during the year for which you are filing.   They must meet the age rules above.

If the child lives with both parents part of the year and they both claim the child as a dependent, the parent who lived with the child longest that year gets the EITC.

If the child lived with both parents for the same amount of time in the tax year, the parent with the higher income gets the EITC.

No.  Even if the parents agree, the rules listed in the questions above must be followed. 

Yes, if you:

• have earned income that falls below the annual IRS requirements.  (This number can change each year.)
• are at least 25 and under 65 years old in the year for which you are filing
• have a valid social security number
• aren’t the dependent of another person
• aren’t the qualifying child of another person
• lived in the U.S.  for more than half the year for the year in which you are filing
• don’t have investment income of more than $11,600 for the year in which you are filing

NOTE:  You can’t be filing as "Married Filing Separately.”

File a federal tax return (Form 1040).  If you have a qualifying child, file Form 1040 AND Schedule EIC (Form 1040).

If you qualify for the EITC, you can ask the IRS to figure the amount for you. If you have a qualifying child, you must fill out 

• Form 1040 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf and
• Page 1 of Schedule EIC (Form 1040)  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sei.pdf 

If you're not sure if you qualify for the EITC, use the EITC Qualification Assistant. 

Any refund you get because of the EITC can’t be counted as income against you when figuring out if you are eligible for benefits for these programs:

• Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP).
• Medicaid.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (food stamps).
• Low-income housing.

Also,  when determining if you are eligible, the refund can’t be counted as a resource for at least 12 months after you get it. 

If you are getting benefits, it doesn’t count as income during the month you get the check or the next month. After 2 months, if you have any refund money left it may count toward the resource limit for your benefits. If you are getting public assistance, talk to your case worker about how a refund could affect your benefits.

The amount of EITC you may be eligible for is based on your:

• adjusted gross income
• investment income
• filing status
• number of qualifying children you have, if any.

The amount of the EITC changes every year.  For tax year 2025, the most you can get is:

• No qualifying children: $649
• 1 qualifying child: $4,328
• 2 qualifying children: $7,152
• 3 or more qualifying children: $8,046

These numbers change every year.

NOTE: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is moving away from paper refund checks.  Most people filing 2025 individual tax returns in 2026 won’t get paper refund checks.  If you have a bank account, you need to put direct deposit information on your tax return. If you don’t have a bank account and you can’t open one, the IRS offers other options like a prepaid debit card or digital wallets.