You May Qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit

North Dakota individuals and families may be eligible for the earned income tax credit (EITC), according to Debra Pankow, North Dakota State University Extension Service family economics specialist.

If you worked full time or part time during 2009 and had a low to moderate income, you may qualify.

If you qualify, you owe less in taxes and may get cash back. Also, some people who don’t owe taxes can get the EITC. However, to get these credits, you must file a tax return.

The amounts that someone will receive vary with income and circumstances. Here are some figures for the maximum amount that workers can receive for the EITC:

• If you lived with one child in your home in 2009 and your family earned less than $35,463 ($40,463 for married workers), you can get up to $3,043.
• If you lived with two children and your family earned less than $40,295 ($45,295 for married workers), you can get up to $5,028.
• If you lived with three or more children and your family earned less than $43,279 ($48,279 for married workers), you can get up to $5,657.
• If you had no children living with you, earned less than $13,440 ($18,440 for married workers) and are between the ages of 25 and 64, you can get up to $457.

“In North Dakota, 39,887 households received more than $67 million for tax year 2006 (latest figures available),” Pankow says. “Across the country, 23.1 million eligible families and individuals claimed the tax credit worth $44.6 billion. However, despite the impressive numbers, millions more eligible families did not file for the credits.”

A tool to roughly determine your EITC eligibility and return for 2009 is available at http://www.cbpp.org/eic2009/calculator/.

In addition to the EITC, you may qualify for the child tax credit (CTC). To claim the CTC, you must have at least one qualifying child and have income under a certain limit, depending upon your tax filing status. The CTC is partially refundable for some families.

To have the CTC refunded for the 2009 tax year, you must have taxable earned income above $3,000 and have your CTC be worth more than the tax you owe.

A qualifying child:

• Can include a son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild, niece, or nephew),
• Was under age 17 at the end of 2009
• Did not provide more than half of his or her own support for 2009
• Lived with you for more than half of 2009
• Is claimed as a dependent on your return
• Was a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or U.S. resident alien

Free tax filing help is available by calling the Internal Revenue Service at (800) 828-1040 or at http://www.irs.gov.

NDSU Agriculture Communication