Earned Income Tax Credit Age Limit Requirements

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable federal tax credit for workers and families with low-to-moderate incomes. Eligible individuals can receive a payment even if they owe no federal income tax. Eligibility depends on several factors established by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including income limits, filing status, and specific age requirements. The age rules differ based on whether a taxpayer is claiming a qualifying child, which also affects the amount of the credit.

Age Requirements for Taxpayers Without a Qualifying Child

To claim the EITC without a qualifying child, the taxpayer must be at least 25 years old but under 65 at the end of the tax year. Their main home must also have been in the United States for more than half of the tax year. Additionally, they cannot be claimed as a dependent or a qualifying child on anyone else’s tax return.

Age Requirements for a Qualifying Child

When claiming the EITC with a qualifying child, the child must meet an age test. Unless the child is permanently and totally disabled, they must be younger than the taxpayer, or the taxpayer’s spouse if filing jointly. The age test has three components, and the child only needs to meet one.

The first and most common rule is the general age limit. Under this provision, a child must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year. For example, if a child turns 19 on December 31st, they would not meet this test for that tax year. This rule applies to a taxpayer’s son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild or nephew.

A different age limit applies if the child is a student. A child who is a full-time student can be claimed until they are under the age of 24 at the end of the tax year. The IRS defines a “full-time student” as someone enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time. This status must be maintained for at least five calendar months during the year, though the months do not need to be consecutive. A “school” can include a college, university, or a technical, trade, or mechanical school.

The third component of the age test relates to disability. If a child is “permanently and totally disabled,” there is no age limit. The IRS defines this as a condition where the individual cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental condition. A doctor must also determine the condition has lasted or is expected to last continuously for at least one year or can lead to death.

Special Circumstances and Tie-Breaker Rules

An individual who can be claimed as a qualifying child by another person cannot claim the EITC for themselves, even if they meet the age and income requirements. For instance, a 20-year-old college student who works part-time cannot claim the EITC if their parents are eligible to claim them as a qualifying child, regardless of whether the parents actually do so.

When a child meets the requirements to be a qualifying child for more than one person in the same household, the IRS applies tie-breaker rules to determine who can claim the child. The rules are applied in the following order of priority:

• If only one of the individuals is the child’s parent, the parent has the right to claim the child.
• If both individuals are the child’s parents but they do not file a joint return, the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period during the year gets to claim the child. If the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) claims the child.
• If neither person is the child’s parent, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person with the highest AGI.

There is also a rule for situations where a parent is able to claim the child but chooses not to. In that scenario, another person can claim the child only if their AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent who is eligible to claim the child.