Reminders(p5)

If you received advance payments of EIC in 2010, you must file Form 1040 or Form 1040A to report the payments. Your Form W-2, box 9, (as shown in Figure 1) will show the amount you received. Report the amount on line 59 (Form 1040) or line 36 (Form 1040A). If filing Form 1040, check box a on line 59.

A married person filing a joint return may get more EIC than someone with the same income but a different filing status. As a result, the EIC table has different columns for married persons filing jointly than for everyone else. When you look up your EIC in the EIC Table, be sure to use the correct column for your filing status and the number of children you have.

Any refund you receive because of the EIC and any advance EIC payments you receive will not be considered income when determining whether you are eligible for the following benefit programs, or how much you can receive from these programs. However, if the amounts you receive are not spent within a certain period of time, they may count as an asset (or resource) and affect your eligibility.

• Medicaid and supplemental security income (SSI).
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps).
• Low-income housing.

Temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) benefits may be affected. Please check with your state.

If you can claim the EIC on your federal income tax return, you may be able to take a similar credit on your state or local income tax return. For a list of states that offer a state EIC, go to www.irs.gov/eitc.

The IRS may ask you to provide documents to prove you are entitled to claim the EIC. We will tell you what documents to send us. These may include: birth certificates, school records, medical records, etc. We will also send you a letter with the name, address, and telephone number of the IRS employee assigned to your case. The process of establishing your eligibility will delay your refund.

You can order Publicación 596SP, Crédito por Ingreso del Trabajo, from the IRS. It is a Spanish translation of Publication 596. See How To Get Tax Help in the Appendix to find out how to order this and other IRS forms and publications.

The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

We welcome your comments about this publication and your suggestions for future editions.

You can write to us at the following address:  
  

         Internal Revenue Service 
        Individual Forms and Publications Branch 
        SE:W:CAR:MP:T:I 
        1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 
        Washington, DC 20224

 

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Although we cannot respond individually to each comment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will consider your comments as we revise our tax products.

Visit www.irs.gov/formspubs/ to download forms and publications, call 1-800-829-3676, or write to the address below and receive a response within 10 days after your request is received.

 
        Internal Revenue Service 
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If you have a tax question, check the information available on IRS.gov or call 1-800-829-1040. We cannot answer tax questions sent to either of the above addresses.