The Earned Income Tax Credit: who qualifies and how much
A refundable credit for people who work, sized by how many children live with you, with strict Social Security number rules and a refund hold every year.
Quick answers
- Who qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit?
- People who work and whose earned income and adjusted gross income both come in under the limit for their family size. You, your spouse on a joint return and every child listed need a Social Security number valid for work.
- Can I get the EITC with no children?
- Yes, a smaller credit. You have to be inside the minimum and maximum age limits set for the year, your main home must have been in the United States for more than half the year, and you cannot be claimed as a dependent or be someone else's qualifying child.
- Why is my refund held until February?
- By law the IRS cannot release a refund on a return claiming this credit before mid-February, and the hold covers your whole refund rather than the credit alone. Filing in January does not shorten it, so plan around the date.
The earned income credit is a refundable credit for people who work and whose income is modest. Because it is refundable, it can come back to you as a refund even when it takes your tax to zero, which is why it is the largest single line on many returns.
| Maximum EITC, no qualifying children | $649 | 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, 2025 EIC Table |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum EITC, one qualifying child | $4,328 | 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, 2025 EIC Table |
| Maximum EITC, two qualifying children | $7,152 | 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, 2025 EIC Table |
| Maximum EITC, three or more qualifying children | $8,046 | 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, 2025 EIC Table |
| EITC investment-income limit | $11,950 | 2025 Instructions for Form 1040, EIC Step 2 |
You have to have earned income
Earned income means wages, salary and tips reported on a W-2, and net earnings from self-employment. Money that arrives without work behind it does not count: interest, dividends, pensions and annuities, Social Security, unemployment, alimony, child support and disability payments received after you reach minimum retirement age.
That cuts both ways. A driver or a stylist with a 1099 and a Schedule C has earned income and can qualify, but the profit reported on the Schedule C, not the gross receipts, is what counts. Understating expenses to raise the credit is as much a problem as overstating them to lower tax.
There is a separate gate on unearned income. If your investment income for the year is more than $11,950, the credit is off regardless of everything else. Investment income here means taxable and tax-exempt interest, ordinary dividends and net capital gain.
The income limits depend on how many children you have
Both your earned income and your adjusted gross income have to come in under the limit for your family size. For 2025 the limits are:
- No qualifying children: $19,104, or $26,214 on a joint return.
- One qualifying child: $50,434, or $57,554 jointly.
- Two qualifying children: $57,310, or $64,430 jointly.
- Three or more: $61,555, or $68,675 jointly.
The credit rises with earnings, flattens across a middle band and then falls away as income climbs toward the limit. So the maximums in the table above are reached in the middle of the range, not at the top of it, and a raise can shrink the credit without changing anything else about your household.
Who is a qualifying child
A child counts for this credit if all four tests hold:
- Relationship. Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half or step sibling, or a descendant of any of them.
- Age. Under 19 at the end of the year and younger than you, or under 24 and a full-time student and younger than you, or any age if permanently and totally disabled.
- Residency. Lived with you in the United States for more than half the year. Temporary absences for school, illness, military service or detention still count.
- Joint return. The child is not filing a joint return, except to claim back withholding.
When the same child qualifies for two adults who do not file together, only one of them can use the child, and tiebreaker rules settle which. Agreeing on that before either return is filed avoids a rejected e-file.
Claiming it with no children
You can still claim a smaller credit with no qualifying child. You have to be at least 25 and under 65 at the end of the year, your main home has to have been in the United States for more than half the year, and you cannot be claimed as a dependent or be someone else's qualifying child.
Social Security numbers, and filing status
You, your spouse on a joint return, and every child listed on Schedule EIC need a Social Security number valid for work, issued by the due date of the return. An individual taxpayer identification number does not work for this credit.
Married filing separately is generally out. The exception is for separated spouses: if you had a qualifying child who lived with you for more than half the year and you either lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year or are legally separated under a written agreement or decree and did not share a household at year end, you can claim it and check the box on the return that says so.
The refund is held
By law the IRS cannot release a refund on a return claiming this credit before mid-February, and the hold applies to the whole refund, not only the credit. A return filed in January is processed on time; the money simply arrives later than it would otherwise. Plan around it rather than around a filing date.
Why your preparer asks so many questions
A paid preparer who puts this credit on a return has to complete Form 8867, a due diligence checklist, and has to be able to show they asked. Expect questions about where the children slept, who paid what, and whether anyone else could claim them, plus a request for documents such as school or medical records showing the address. It is not suspicion; the preparer is personally penalized for skipping it.