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IRS Presents: Be Sure to Know Whether You Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit
The Earned Income Tax Credit, commonly referred to as EITC, can be a financial boost for working people adversely impacted by hard economic times. However, one in four eligible taxpayers could miss out on the credit because they don’t check it out. Here are the top 10 things the Internal Revenue Service wants you to know about this valuable credit, which has been making the lives of working people a little easier for 35 years.
- Just because you didn’t qualify last year, doesn’t mean you won’t this year. As your financial, marital or parental situations change from year-to-year, you should review the EITC eligibility rules to determine whether you qualify.
- If you qualify, it could be worth up to $5,657 this year. EITC not only reduces the federal tax you owe, but could result in a refund. The amount of your EITC is based on the amount of your earned income and whether or not there are qualifying children in your household. New EITC provisions mean more money for larger families.
- If you qualify, you must file a federal income tax return and specifically claim the credit in order to get it – even if you are not otherwise required to file.
- Your filing status cannot be Married Filing Separately.
- You must have a valid Social Security Number. You, your spouse – if filing a joint return – and any qualifying child listed on Schedule EIC must have a valid SSN issued by the Social Security Administration.
- You must have earned income. You have earned income if you work for someone who pays you wages, you are self-employed, you have income from farming, or – in some cases – you receive disability income.
- Married couples and single people without kids may qualify. If you do not have qualifying children, you must also meet the age and residency requirements as well as dependency rules.
- Special rules apply to members of the U.S. Armed Forces in combat zones. Members of the military can elect to include their nontaxable combat pay in earned income for the EITC. If you make this election, the combat pay remains nontaxable.
- It’s easy to determine whether you qualify. The EITC Assistant, an interactive tool available on IRS.gov, removes the guesswork from eligibility rules. Just answer a few simple questions to find out if you qualify and estimate the amount of your EITC.
- Free help is available at volunteer assistance sites and IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers to help you prepare and claim your EITC. If you are preparing your taxes electronically, the software program you use will figure the credit for you. If you qualify for the credit you may also be eligible for Free File. You can access Free File at IRS.gov.
For more information about the EITC, see IRS Publication 596, Earned Income Credit. This publication – available in both English and Spanish – can be downloaded from IRS.gov or ordered by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Links:
- EITC Assistant
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Publication 596, Earned Income Credit (EIC) (PDF 373K)
- Free File
- Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit
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Extend The Due Date To Pay Your Corporate Income Taxes – A Good Reminder From a Past Post
Do you have a profit in the current year, but because of certain economic conditions, or other factors you expect to have a net operating loss next year?
If the answer is yes, you may be able to delay payment of your corporate income taxes.
Yes – Really, you can delay payment of corporate income taxes if the right conditions exist.
Generally, if you request an extension of time to file your tax return, you are extending the due date of the return, but not the due date for paying your income tax. As corporate tax payers know, their income taxes are due in full by the 15th day of the third month following the corporation’s year-end.
However, you may be able to extend the due date for paying your corporate income taxes by filing Form 1138 Extension of Time for Payment of Taxes by a Corporation Expecting A Net Operating Loss Carry back.
In order to take advantage of this extension of time to pay your tax, you must also extend the due date of your corporate income tax return using Form 7004 Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax. Payment is delayed [and therefore not deposited with Form 7004] because taxes that normally would be deposited will be reduced or possibly eliminated by the carry back of the net operating loss from the following year.
File the Form 1138 after the beginning of the tax year where you expect a net operating loss, but before the original due date of the tax return.
The extension for payment is in effect until the return for which the extension is requested is due to be filed – including extensions.
Note: Not all payments are extended. If you were required to make estimated payments throughout the year, these will most likely not be extended. Only payments that would be due after you file Form 1138 are extended.
Stacie's Tax Stuff 