Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

Low- to moderate-income workers with qualifying children may be eligible to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) if certain qualifying rules apply to them.

You may qualify for the EITC even if you can�t claim children on your tax return.

Basic Qualifying Rules

To qualify for the EITC, you must:

Have worked and earned income under $66,819
Have investment income below $11,600 in the tax year 2024
Have a valid Social Security number by the due date of your 2024 return (including extensions)
Be a U.S. citizen or a resident alien all year
Not file Form 2555 (related to foreign earned income)

Special Qualifying Rules

The EITC has special qualifying rules for:

Publication 3, Armed Forces� Tax Guide,
Publication 517, Social Security and Other Information
Publication 907,Tax Highlights for Persons With Disabilities

To qualify for the EITC, everyone you claim on your taxes must have a valid Social Security number (SSN). To be valid, the SSN must be:

Valid for employment
Issued on or before the due date of the tax return you plan to claim (including extensions)

For the EITC, we accept a Social Security number on a Social Security card that has the words, "Valid for work with DHS authorization," on it.

For the EITC, we don�t accept:

Individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITIN)
Adoption taxpayer identification numbers (ATIN)
Social Security numbers on Social Security cards that have the words, "Not Valid for Employment," on them

For more information about the Social Security number rules for the EITC, see Rule 2 in Publication 596, Earned Income Credit

U.S. citizen or resident alien

To claim the EITC, you and your spouse (if filing jointly) must be U.S. citizens or resident aliens

If you or your spouse were a nonresident alien for any part of the tax year, you can only claim the EITC if your filing status is married filing jointly and you or your spouse is a

Filing Status

To qualify for the EITC, you can use one of the following statuses:

Married filing jointly
Head of household
Qualifying widow or widower
Single
Married filing separate

Married filing separate

You can claim the EIC if you are married, not filing a joint return, had a qualifying child who lived with you for more than half the tax year, and either of the following apply.

You lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the tax year, or
You are legally separated according to your state law under a written separation agreement or a decree of separate maintenance and you didn't live in the same household as your spouse at the end of the tax year.

There are special rules if you or your spouse are a nonresident alien.

Head of Household

You may claim the Head of Household filing status if you�re not married and pay more than half the costs of keeping up your home where you live with your qualifying child.

Costs include:

Rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes and home insurance
Repairs and utilities
Food eaten in the home
Some costs paid with public assistance

Costs don�t include:

Money you got from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or other public assistance programs
Clothing, education and vacations expenses
Medical treatment, medical insurance payments and prescription drugs
Life insurance
Transportation costs like insurance, lease payments or public transportation
Rental value of a home you own
Value of your services or those of a member of your household

Qualifying Surviving Spouse

To file as a qualifying widow or widower, all the following must apply to you:

You could have filed a joint return with your spouse for the tax year they died.
Your spouse died less than 2 years before the tax year you�re claiming the EITC and you did not remarry before the end of that year
You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year
You have a child or stepchild you can claim as a relative (this does not include a foster child) and the child lived in your home all year.

Note: There are exceptions for temporary absences and for a child who was born or died during the year and for a kidnapped child.

Claim the EITC without a qualifying child

You are eligible to claim the EITC without a qualifying child if you meet all the following rules.
You (and your spouse if filing jointly) must:

Meet the EITC basic qualifying rules
Have your main home in the United States Virgin Islands for more than half the tax year
Not be claimed as a qualifying child on anyone else's tax return
Be at least age 25 but under age 65 (at least one spouse must meet the age rule)