Legal Aid Society of New York

Earned Income Tax Credit

To Get the Federal Income Tax Credit (EIC)

• You must have a valid Social Security card and be a legal resident or U.S. Citizen
• You must earn:
• • Less than $33,178 if you have 2 or more qualifying children (or $34,178 for a married couple filing taxes jointly). Click here to view a list of requirements if you have CHILDREN.
  • Less than $29,201 if you have one qualifying child ($30,201 for a married couple filing taxes jointly).? Click here to view a list of requirements if you have CHILDREN.
  • Less than $11,060 if you have no qualifying children ($12,060 for a married couple filing taxes jointly).? Click here to view a list of requirements if you have NO CHILDREN.
• A qualifying child is generally a taxpayers' child, sibling, spouse, or foster child.

To file your taxes and apply for the EIC, you need to have:

• W-2's for you, your spouse, and your children.
• Information about any other income forms, such as Income from self-employment, Income from unemployment, and Income from interest, pension, retirement, annuity, and rental property.
• Correct birth names and social security numbers for you, your spouse, and children.
• Information about child care, if you used it: (1) Name, phone number, and address of child care facility; (2) Amount paid during the year for child care; (3) Federal taxpayer identification number or Social Security number of facility or individual.
• If you want to have the IRS directly deposit money into your bank account, your bank account's routing number.

Filling out the forms will take 20 minutes to one hour. If you do not have enough time to finish, you should remember your password to finish later.

If you are not sure if you can get the earned income credit, you can click here to calculate it.