When to Use Schedule EIC: Earned Income Credit

The EITC is a refundable tax credit, which means that it can be used to reduce your taxable income below zero and generate a tax refund. The maximum amount of EITC allowed and income limitations associated with claiming it are adjusted each year by the IRS based on the cost of living. You must meet certain requirements in order to claim the credit. If you have a qualifying child or children, you claim the EITC by filing Schedule EIC with your tax return.

You must meet the following requirements in order to be eligible for the EITC:

• You need to have a valid Social Security number.
• You must be a U.S. citizen or a full-year resident alien.
• You must have earned income (wages, salaries, self-employment income, etc.) and meet the EITC income limits.

You cannot claim the credit if you are married and filing a separate return, file Form 2555 or 2555-EZ, have more than $3,200 of investment income (2012 amount), or if you can be the qualifying child of another person. You may claim the EITC without having a qualifying child and filing Schedule EIC if you are not claimed as a dependent on another person's return, live in the U.S. for more than half the year and are between ages 25 and 65.

If you are filing Schedule EIC, it is because you are claiming the EITC with one or more qualifying children (maximum of three). In order to be considered a qualifying child, your child must meet the tests for residency, age, joint returns and relationship. The child must:

• Have lived with you for more than half the year
• Be under age 19 at the end of the tax year — or 24 if a full-time student — and not have filed a joint return
• Be your son, daughter, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a foster child legally placed under your custody.

Only one person can claim a qualifying child. If a child can be the qualifying child for more than one person, the IRS has a tie breaker to determine who claims the child.

There are two ways to calculate the amount of your EITC. First, you can calculate the credit yourself using the earned income credit worksheet and earned income credit table found in the 1040 Instruction Booklet. When filing Schedule EIC and claiming the credit with a qualifying child or children, it is very important that you find your credit amount in the appropriate column for your filing status and number of qualifying children on the earned income credit table. Second, you can choose to have the IRS figure your credit amount for you if you do not wish to calculate the credit yourself. You can do this by entering "EIC" on line 64a of Form 1040.

The amount of EITC you qualify for increases with the number of qualifying children (up to three) and with the amount of your earned income up to $50,270 and can result in a credit of up to $5,891 for three children (lesser amounts for one or two children; all amounts are for 2012).

Of course, when you use TurboTax to prepare your taxes, we’ll ask you simple questions in plain English, then handle all the calculations for you. We’ll tell you exactly how much of the EITC you qualify to receive.