How the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Can Help You Save Money on Taxes
The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on Low- to Middle-Income Families
Today on February 27th the IRS is starting to send back money to people who filed their taxes for the year 2024. This is called a tax refund. One way to get a bigger refund is by using something called the Earned Income Tax Credit EITC. This credit helps people with low to middle incomes to save on taxes. You can get up to $7,430 through the EITC.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is a big help to a lot of families. It is one of the biggest programs that helps people who do not have a lot of money. Research has shown that it has helped over 5.6 million families to not be poor anymore. The EITC is special because even if you do not owe any taxes you can still get money back. Families and people who are sick or disabled can get the most money from the EITC.
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The IRS says that about 23 million people got around $57 billion back through the EITC in 2022. On average people got about $2,541. But even though a lot of people can use the EITC not everyone knows about it. The IRS thinks that about one in every five people who can use the EITC do not know about it. So the IRS tries to tell people about it every year on EITC Awareness Day. They want to make sure that everyone who can use this credit knows about it and can save some money on their taxes.
Who will begin receiving their tax refund starting on Tuesday?
Even if someone income is below the amount that requires them to file taxes they still need to do certain things and file a tax return to get the EITC. If someone has investment income of less than $11,000 for the year they can get the EITC if they earn less than $56,838 if they are single or $63,398 if they are married and filing together.
Other things they need to do include having a Social Security number being a citizen of the United States and not filing Form 2555 to report income from other countries. The income levels and credit amounts for this year are as follows:
| Dependents | Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) | Maximum Credit |
| No children | Up to $17,640 single / $24,210 joint | $600 |
| One child | Up to $46,560 single / $53,120 joint | $3,995 |
| Two children | Up to $52,918 single / $59,478 joint | $6,604 |
| Three or more children | Up to $56,838 single / $63,398 joint | $7,430 |