Earned income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) tables

To claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), you must have what qualifies as earned income and meet certain adjusted gross income (AGI) limits. The amount of the credit is based on your income, filing status, and the number of qualifying children you claim, if any.

Use the EITC tables to look up the maximum credit amounts by tax year.

Use the EITC Assistant to see whether you qualify for the credit.

Earned income

Earned income includes all the taxable income and wages received for working for someone else, yourself or from a business or farm you own.

Types of earned income

• Wages, salaries, or tips where federal income taxes are withheld on Form W-2, box 1
• Tip income not reported to your employer

• Household employee wages
• Medicaid waiver payments excluded from income on Schedule 1 (Form 1040)
• Income from a job where your employer didn’t withhold tax (such as gig economy work) including:
  • Driving a car for booked rides or deliveries
  • Running errands or doing tasks
  • Selling goods online
  • Renting equipment
  • Renting out property or part of it
  • Providing creative or professional services
  • Providing other temporary, on-demand or freelance work
• Money made from self-employment, including if you:
  • Own or operate a business or farm
  • Are a minister or member of a religious order
  • Are a statutory employee and have income
• Taxable benefits from a union strike
• Certain disability benefits you got before you were the minimum retirement age
• Nontaxable Combat Pay (Form W-2, box 12 with code Q)
  • If you claim nontaxable combat pay as earned income, it may increase or decrease the amount of your EITC. For more information, see Publication 3, Armed Forces' Tax Guide.

Earned income does not include:

• Pay you got for work when you were an inmate in a penal institution
• Interest and dividends
• Pensions or annuities
• Social Security benefits
• Unemployment benefits
• Alimony
• Child support

EITC tables

Use these tables organized to find the maximum amount of EITC you may be eligible for based on your:

• Adjusted gross income (AGI)
• Investment income
• Filing status
• Number of qualifying children if any
• Tax year