How to List Earned Income for Earned Income Credit Purposes
- 1). Look at an income qualifying chart to see if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (see Resources 1). Your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and total earned income must be less than the numbers on the chart. The maximum allowable income limit increases for each child you have, up to three children.
- 2). Figure out how much you earned for the total year using page 50 on the IRS 1040 Worksheet (see Resources 2). Total income includes wages from an employer, income from a business or freelance work, tips, disability, unemployment compensation, etc. Subtract the deductions for which you are eligible. This final number is your total earned income.
- 3). Look at page 52 on Worksheet A to find out what your earned income credit is, if you have an employer. If you are self-employed, use Worksheet B.
- 4). Write down your earned income credit amount on line 2 on Worksheet A. Look at line 5 of Worksheet A if your adjusted gross income and earned income credit are different numbers. Write the number on line 7 if you are using Worksheet B (see Resources 3).
- 5). Turn to page 55 if your Adjusted Gross Income and earned income amounts are dissimilar and if you made more money than the charts specify (see Resources 2). Write down the number from the tables on line 5 in Worksheet A. Your EIC is the lower number of line 5 and your total earned income.
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