Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) 2025: how much it is and who qualifies

How much the credit is in 2025

The maximum credit depends on how many qualifying children you have:

• No qualifying children: up to $649.
• One child: up to $4,328.
• Two children: up to $7,152.
• Three or more children: up to $8,046.

When it starts to shrink

The credit grows with your earned income until it reaches the maximum. It then starts to shrink once your earned income or your adjusted gross income, whichever is higher, goes past a set amount. That amount is not the cutoff for qualifying: it is the point where the credit begins to go down little by little.

With no qualifying children, it starts to shrink above $10,620, or $17,730 if you file jointly. With one or more children, above $23,350, or $30,470 if you file jointly.

Who qualifies

• You have earned income, such as wages or income from your own business.
• You, and your spouse if you file jointly, have a Social Security number valid for employment, issued by the due date of the return. Someone who files with an ITIN cannot receive this credit.
• Your main home was in the United States for more than half the year.
• Your investment income, such as interest, dividends and capital gains, is no more than $11,950 for the year.
• You are not someone else's qualifying child.
• If you file as married filing separately, you generally do not qualify. According to the IRS, there is an exception if you lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year or are legally separated, and a qualifying child lived with you for more than half the year.

Who is a qualifying child for this credit

• Lived with you for more than half the year.
• At the end of 2025 was under 19, or under 24 if a full-time student, or permanently and totally disabled at any age.
• Has a Social Security number valid for employment.
• With no qualifying children, you, or your spouse if you file jointly, must be at least 25 but under 65 at the end of the year.

How Vordana Tax handles it

With Vordana Tax you answer simple questions about your work, your family and your home. The program checks each requirement, decides which children count for this credit, figures the amount and prepares Schedule EIC with your Form 1040. If you do not qualify, it tells you why.

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