The Federal government offers Earned Income Tax credit as a tax break to low to middle-income earners to reduce their financial burden and help them reduce their tax bill. The EITC is just like other credits that are processed to eligible US citizens with tax refunds.
With the 2025 tax season approaching, taxpayers should know about the EITC to know how much they will receive under the credit, eligibility, and many other things to get a tax break. The article covers everything you wish to learn about the EITC for the 2025 tax season.
Earned Income Tax Credit 2025
The IRS offers credit to eligible earners on their earned income, such as wages, income from employers who don’t withhold taxes, self-employment, union strike benefits, nontaxable combat pay, or certain disability benefits.
However, the income that is not included in EITC, are interests, social security, alimony, child support, pensions or annuities, or pay from a penal institution. The EITC supports low-to-moderate-income earners to reduce their tax bills and help them save their money. The US citizens preparing for the tax return for the 2024 tax year should understand such credits to help them increase their tax refunds.
The EITC claims depend on qualifying children, but people with no children can also receive the EITC when they earn a certain income and qualify for the credit. With this credit, the government intends to reduce the financial burden on eligible citizens.
Who qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit for the 2025 tax season?
US citizens with tax responsibility can qualify for the EITC in the 2025 tax season based on the following eligibility conditions:
- You must be a US resident and have tax responsibility for the 2024 tax year;
- Your investment income should be under the set limit for the 2024 tax year, that is, $11600 or less;
- Your adjustable gross income should meet the 2024 tax year limit to receive the EITC, such as
| Number of Children | Filing tax return as head of household, single, married but filing separately, or widow (er) | Filing tax rerun with the status of married filing jointly |
| 0 | $18591 | $25,511 |
| 01 | $49,084 | $56,004 |
| 02 | $55768 | $62,688 |
| 03 | $59,899 | $66,819 |
- If you are applying with the child, the child must meet the qualifying child conditions to receive the EITC;
- You should have a valid SSN (Social Security Number) and you must not file the Foreign Earned Income return (form 2555),
- The individual applicants who have separated from their spouse must meet certain conditions to meet the EITC qualifications
- The military personnel, taxpayers who have relatives with some disabilities, or clergy members need to meet the particular conditions to receive the EITC;
What’s the eligibility for the EITC-qualifying child?
People who plan to claim EITC with a child should check the following qualifying child eligibility requirements to receive the credit:
- The qualifying child should have a Social Security Number valid for the tax year,
- The child age with a disability does not need to follow the age rule, however, the child age should be under 19.
- The child above 19 or under 24 can receive an EITC qualifying child if they are a full-time resident for at least five months in the 2024 tax year.
- The child can be your son, stepchild, daughter, foster kid, adopted kid, grandchild, brother, sister, step-sister/son, half-brother/sister, niece, or nephew.
- They must be living with you in the US for minimum a of half a tax year
- The child must not be claimed as dependent on someone else’s claim or not file the claim with some other person.
What is the EITC eligibility without the qualifying child?
The taxpayers who plan to claim the EITC in the 2025 tax season with no qualifying child should check the eligibility conditions without a qualifying child below:
- You must meet the basic eligibility rules mentioned for the EITC claims above;
- You should have a main residence in the US for at least half of the 2024 tax year, in 50 states, US military bases, and the District of Columbia;
- You are not claimed as a dependent on other person’s tax returns,
- You must have attained a minimum age of 25 years and you should be under 65 years of age or your spouse meets the age rule for the non-qualifying child EITC.
Earned Income Tax Credit 2025 Payout
As we have mentioned earlier, the EITC payout for the 2024 tax year due in 2025 is based on the number of qualifying children, hence, the taxpayers planning to file the EITC claim with their 2025 tax return can expect the following amount:
| No. of Qualifying children | EITC amount for the 2024 tax year |
| Zero | $632 |
| One | $4,213 |
| Two | $6,960 |
| Three or more | $7830 |
The IRS annually adjusts the payment rates based on inflation, the 2024 tax year inflation adjustment suggested above the maximum EITC credits for eligible taxpayers based on the number of qualifying children.
The IRS has already announced the inflation adjustment for the 2025 tax year as well, where the taxpayers can expect a hike in payments to some percentage with an increase in the investment cap, AGI, and others.
How can you file your claim for the Earned Income Tax Credit 2025?
Taxpayers who wish to claim the EITC in the upcoming tax season can file the claim with their tax return with their SSN and other relevant documents. The taxpayers have to give Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR (for seniors) where you will find the EITC in the form.
The US residents who are claiming with a qualifying child must include the Schedule EIC with their 1040 tax form to inform the agency about the child and receive the credit based on the child. The IRs advised the taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically, such as Free File, Direct File, and others to receive the refund early.
Remember, the EITC claim will be processed after 15 Feb 2025 only due to the PATH Act obligations which limits the agency. Hence, you will receive the EITC refund after 27 Feb 2025 through direct deposit.
The EITC credits are beneficial for many taxpayers, hence you should check if you are eligible for it or not while preparing for the 2025 tax season.