Who qualifies
Before the IRS looks at your children or your income level, it checks a set of basic rules that apply to every worker. Fail any one of them and the credit is zero, whatever your wages. Most of these rules are simple; two of them — the investment-income limit and the filing-status rule — are the ones people most often miss.
- You must have earned income of at least $1.
- You, your spouse, and any qualifying children need Social Security numbers valid for employment.
- Married filing separately generally cannot claim the credit.
- Investment income above $11,950 for 2025 disqualifies you entirely.
The basic rules, one by one
Earned income. You must have earned income from work — wages, tips, or net self-employment earnings — of at least $1. Both your earned income and your AGI must be below the cutoff for your family size and filing status (see the 2025 table).
Social Security numbers. You, your spouse if filing jointly, and each qualifying child must have a Social Security number that is valid for employment, issued before the due date of your return (including extensions). An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) does not qualify for the EITC.
Filing status. You must file as single, head of household, married filing jointly, or qualifying surviving spouse. If you file as married filing separately, you generally cannot claim the credit — there is a narrow exception for separated spouses who lived apart for the last six months of the year and meet other conditions, but the general rule is no.
Citizenship and residence. You must generally be a US citizen or resident alien for the whole tax year.
Not someone else's qualifying child. You cannot claim the EITC if you can be claimed as a qualifying child of another person.
No foreign earned income exclusion. You cannot file Form 2555 (the foreign earned income exclusion) and claim the EITC in the same year.
Investment income. As explained in the 2025 table guide, investment income above $11,950 for 2025 removes eligibility entirely.
The rules that surprise people
You do not need to owe tax. Because the credit is refundable, workers with no tax liability still qualify and still receive a refund. If your income is below the filing threshold, you are not required to file — but filing is the only way to claim the credit, so file anyway.
Unemployment does not count as earned income. Unemployment compensation, pensions, Social Security, and SSI are not earned income, so a year lived entirely on those payments produces no EITC, even though they may raise your AGI and shrink a credit you would otherwise have.
Students and part-year workers qualify. There is no minimum number of months worked. A student who worked a summer job, or a worker who started in November, can qualify on that year's earnings — the credit simply follows the income actually earned in the tax year.
Check before you file
The IRS offers a free EITC Assistant that walks through these rules with your own numbers and gives a yes-or-no answer plus an estimated credit. It is the fastest way to settle a borderline case, and it is free — see how to claim. If the Assistant says no, it tells you which rule failed, which is often more useful than the answer itself.
Sources to check: IRS, Earned Income Tax Credit: Do I Qualify? (irs.gov); IRS Publication 596, Earned Income Credit (2025).