The EIC is a credit for certain people who work. The credit may give you a refund even if you do not owe any tax.

• Follow the steps below.
• Complete the worksheet on page 46 or let the IRS figure the credit for you.
• If you have a qualifying child, complete and attach Schedule EIC.

For help in determining if you are eligible for the EIC, go to  
www.irs.gov/eitc and click on EITC Assistant. This service is available in English and Spanish.

An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

If you were a member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in a combat zone, certain pay is excluded from your income. See Combat Zone Exclusion in Pub. 3. You can elect to include this pay in your earned income when figuring the EIC. The amount of your nontaxable combat pay should be shown in box 12 of Form(s) W-2 with code Q. If you are filing a joint return and both you and your spouse received nontaxable combat pay, you can each make your own election.

To have the IRS figure your EIC:

1. Enter EIC to the left of the entry space for Form 1040A, 
   line 41a.
2. Be sure you enter the nontaxable combat pay you elect to include in earned income on Form 1040A, line 41b. See Combat pay, nontaxable above.
3. If you have a qualifying child, complete and attach Schedule EIC. If your EIC for a year after 1996 was reduced or disallowed, see Form 8862, who must file later.

Temporary absences by you or the child for special circumstances, such as school, vacation, business, medical care, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility, count as time the child lived with you. Also see Kidnapped child on page 22 or Members of the military on page 45. A child is considered to have lived with you for all of 2009 if the child was born or died in 2009 and your home was this child's home for the entire time he or she was alive in 2009.

You must file Form 8862 if your EIC for a year after 1996 was reduced or disallowed for any reason other than a math or clerical error. But do not file Form 8862 if either of the following applies.

• You filed Form 8862 for another year, the EIC was allowed for that year, and your EIC has not been reduced or disallowed again for any reason other than a math or clerical error.
• You are taking the EIC without a qualifying child and the only reason your EIC was reduced or disallowed in the other year was because it was determined that a child listed on Schedule EIC was not your qualifying child.

Also, do not file Form 8862 or take the credit for the:

• 2 years after the most recent tax year for which there was a final determination that your EIC claim was due to reckless or intentional disregard of the EIC rules, or
• 10 years after the most recent tax year for which there was a final determination that your EIC claim was due to fraud.

A foster child is any child placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction. For more details on authorized placement agencies, see Pub. 596.

A child who was married at the end of 2009 is a qualifying child only if (a) you can claim him or her as your dependent on Form 1040A, line 6c, or (b) you could have claimed him or her as your dependent except for the special rule under Children of divorced or separated parents that begins on page 21.

If you were on extended active duty outside the United States, your home is considered to be in the United States during that duty period. Extended active duty is military duty ordered for an indefinite period or for a period of more than 90 days. Once you begin serving extended active duty, you are considered to be on extended active duty even if you do not serve more than 90 days.

If your filing status is married filing jointly, go to Step 2 on page 42. Otherwise, stop; you cannot take the EIC. Enter No to the left of the entry space for line 41a.

A person is permanently and totally disabled if, at any time in 2009, the person cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition and a doctor has determined that this condition (a) has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year, or (b) can be expected to lead to death.

Even if a child meets the conditions to be the qualifying child of more than one person, only one person can claim the child as a qualifying child for all of the following tax benefits, unless the special rule for Children of divorced or separated parents that begins on page 21 applies.

1. Dependency exemption (line 6c).
2. Child tax credits (lines 33 and 42).
3. Head of household filing status (line 4).
4. Credit for child and dependent care expenses (line 29).
5. Exclusion for dependent care benefits (Form 2441, Part III).
6. Earned income credit (lines 41a and 41b).

No other person can take any of the six tax benefits listed above unless he or she has a different qualifying child. If you and any other person can claim the child as a qualifying child, the following rules apply.

• If only one of the persons is the child's parent, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent.
• If the parents do not file a joint return together but 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 lived for the longer period of time in 2009. If the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent who had the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2009.
• If no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for 2009.
• 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 had the highest AGI for 2009, but only if that person's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent of the child.

Your daughter meets the conditions to be a qualifying child for both you and your mother. Your daughter does not meet the conditions to be the qualifying child of any other person, including her other parent. Under the rules above, you can claim your daughter as a qualifying child for all of the six tax benefits listed above for which you otherwise qualify. Your mother cannot claim any of the six tax benefits listed above unless she has a different qualifying child. However, if your mother's AGI is higher than yours and the other parent's and you do not claim your daughter as a qualifying child, your daughter is the qualifying child of your mother.

For more details and examples, see Pub. 596.

If you will not be taking the EIC with a qualifying child, enter No to the left of the entry space for line 41a. Otherwise, go to Step 3, question 1, on page 43.

For the EIC, a valid SSN is a number issued by the Social Security Administration unless Not Valid for Employment is printed on the social security card and the number was issued solely to apply for or receive a federally funded benefit.

To find out how to get an SSN, see page 17. If you will not have an SSN by the date your return is due, see What If You Cannot File on Time? on page 7.

A student is a child who during any part of 5 calendar months of 2009 was enrolled as a full-time student at a school, or took a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school or a state, county, or local government agency. A school includes a technical, trade, or mechanical school. It does not include an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet.

Any refund you receive as a result of taking the EIC will not be used to determine if you are eligible for the following programs or how much you can receive from them. But if the refund you receive because of the EIC is not spent within a certain period of time, it can count as an asset (or resource) and affect your eligibility.

• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
• Medicaid and supplemental security income (SSI).
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps) and low-income housing.