Earned Income Tax Credit > Other EITC Issues

Earned Income Tax Credit - Other EITC Issues

Rev. date: 1/2010

If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, they may choose which one will claim the credit.

If there are two qualifying children, each parent may claim the credit on the basis of one of the children.
One parent may claim the credit on the basis of both children.
If both parents claim the child as a qualifying child, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent with whom the child lives for the longer period of time in the tax year. If the child lives with each parent for the same amount of time, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent who has the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) for the tax year.
If no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who has the highest AGI for the tax year.
If a parent can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent does so claim the child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who has the highest AGI, but only if that person's AGI is higher than the AGI of any of the child's parents.

Rev. date: 1/2010

You may be able to take this credit if your earned income does not exceed a maximum dollar amount set by law.

The maximum dollar amount is based on your filing status and whether or not you have qualifying children.
Other rules apply.

Rev. date: 1/2010

You can use Form 1040EZ (PDF) when claiming the earned income credit only if you do not have a qualifying child.

You must meet several requirements to use Form 1040EZ (PDF).
If you do not meet all of them, you must use Form 1040A (PDF) or Form 1040 (PDF).