Currently employed? You might be eligible for a $1,500 cash boost for 2022 via the Earned Income Tax Return.
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.
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You may qualify for the EITC even if you can’t claim children on your tax return, but only if you meet all the following:
- Meet the EITC basic qualifying rules
- Have your main home in the United States for more than half the tax year
- The United States includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. military bases. It does not include U.S. possessions such as Guam, the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico
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Not be claimed as a qualifying child on anyone else’s tax return
- Be at least age 25 but under age 65 at the end of the tax year (usually Dec. 31)
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You are not eligible to claim the EITC if:
- Your filing status is married filing separately
- You filed a Form 2555 (related to foreign earned income)
- You or your spouse are nonresident aliens.
To qualify for the EITC, you must:
- Show proof of earned income
- Have investment income below $3,650 in the tax year you claim the credit
- Have a valid Social Security number
- Claim a certain filing status
- Be a U.S. citizen or a resident alien all year
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:
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- Valid for employment
- Issued 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
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The International Business Times reports that while those who claimed it in 2016 qualified with an investment income limit of $3,400 or less and were able to get a maximum of $506 if they had no qualifying children, those in 2017 qualified with an investment income limit of $3,450 and received $510 if they had no qualifying children.
Those numbers changed to $3,500/$519, $3,600/$529 and $3,650/$538 in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.
For 2021, where the $1,502 credit can be claimed, the Investment income limit is $10,000 or less.
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