Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): What It Is, Who Qualifies

Images by GettyImages; illustration by Clint Branch/Bankrate

Millions of taxpayers are eligible for the earned income tax credit (EITC), but this popular tax break — worth up to $7,830 for some families in 2025 — is among the trickiest to claim.

The IRS estimates that about 33 percent of EITC claims are paid out in error, partly due to the tax credit’s complexity and partly due to fraudulent claims.

Here’s how the earned income tax credit works, including what it is, who qualifies and how you can claim this refundable tax credit to ensure you don’t leave any money on the table.

What is the earned income tax credit (EITC)?

The earned income tax credit is one of the largest refundable tax credits for the country’s lowest paid workers. Workers don’t have to owe income taxes to receive the credit, and many taxpayers receive more money through the credit than they pay in federal income tax, according to the IRS. (Note that, while some people don’t owe income tax, generally all workers pay payroll taxes through every paycheck.) The credit can reduce the total tax individuals owe, or give them money back in the form of a refund.

Originally established in 1975, the credit was seen as a key work incentive for some of the country’s lowest earners, letting them recover some of the money they paid through the year in Social Security payroll taxes — and offsetting the disproportionate burden they endured from the era’s record inflation.

The size of the tax credit each worker is eligible for depends on the taxpayer’s income, number of children and filing status. For 2024 taxes (tax returns filed in 2025), the maximum credit workers can claim ranges from $632 to $7,830.

Who qualifies for the EITC?

You must have earned income

The earned income tax credit is aptly named: The most important eligibility requirement is having some form of earned income, up to certain limits. The income limits — actually, adjusted gross income (AGI) limits — depend on how many children you have and your filing status.

Those earnings can be from wages, salaries, or tips, as well as money made from gig work, self-employment, pre-retirement disability payments or nontaxable combat pay, according to the IRS.

For the purposes of the EITC, earned income doesn’t include interest or dividend payments, money you received from a pension or annuity, unemployment benefits, alimony or child support.

Other EITC requirements

In addition to earned income, taxpayers must meet the following eligibility rules:

• The taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse (if filing jointly), and any dependent children claimed for the EITC must have a valid Social Security number by the due date of their 2024 return (generally, that’s April 15, 2025, or Oct. 15, 2025 if an extension is filed);
• The taxpayer (and spouse, if filing jointly) must report less than $11,600 in investment income for the 2024 tax year;
• The taxpayer must not file Form 2555 reporting foreign earned income; and
• The taxpayer, and their spouse if filing jointly, must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien (if you or your spouse were a nonresident alien for part of the year, visit this IRS page for more information).

Claiming the EITC with children

If you’re going to claim a child for the credit, the child must be age 18 or younger (or 23 or younger if the child is a full-time student). The IRS offers additional information on how to determine if your child qualifies for the EITC. If your dependent is permanently disabled, they may qualify for the EITC at any age.

Claiming the EITC without children

If you don’t have children, the requirements are slightly different. In addition to the eligibility rules noted above and below, the IRS requires that you (and your spouse, if filing jointly):

• Live in the U.S. for more than half of the tax year;
• Not be claimed as a qualifying child on another’s tax return; and
• Must be at least age 25 but under age 65 (just one spouse, if married filing jointly, can meet this rule).

Adjusted gross income (AGI) limits

To qualify for the EITC, taxpayers must not exceed certain adjusted gross income (AGI) limits.

Here are the EITC adjusted gross income (AGI) limits and maximum tax credit amounts for the 2024 tax year (tax returns filed in 2025):

Here are the EITC adjusted gross income (AGI) limits and maximum tax credit amounts for the 2025 tax year (tax returns filed in 2026):

How to claim the EITC

To claim the EITC, taxpayers must file a tax return, even if normally they wouldn’t be required to file.

If you’re unsure of whether you qualify, check out the IRS’ EITC assistant tool.

Taxpayers who receive the credit won’t be able to get their refund until at least mid-February of any given tax year, according to the IRS. By law, the agency cannot disburse EITC funds any sooner — the same goes for the “additional” child tax credit — to prevent fraud and errors.

Some taxpayers also can claim an earned income tax credit at the state level: 31 states and the District of Columbia offer such a credit, according to 2023 data from the Tax Policy Center. Most state credits are based on the percentage that you receive in federal earned income credit money, but check your state’s rules.

Learn more: