If you worked full time or part time during 2006 and had a low to moderate income, you may qualify for the earned income credit (EIC), according to Debra Pankow, North Dakota State University Extension Service family economics specialist.

If you qualify, you owe less in taxes and may get cash back. Also, some people who don’t owe taxes can get the EIC. 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 earned income credit:

• If you lived with one child in your home in 2006 and your family earned less than $32,001 ($34,001 for married workers), you can get up to $2,747.
• If you lived with two or more children in 2006 and your family earned less than $36,348 ($38,348 for married workers), you can get up to $4,536.
• If you had no children living with you, earned less than $12,120 ($14,120 for married workers) and are between the ages of 25 and 64, you can get up to $412.

To get the EIC, you must file form 1040 or 1040A. If you had a qualifying child in your home, you must fill out and attach schedule EIC. A correct name and Social Security number must be provided for every person listed on the tax return and schedule EIC.

“In addition to the EIC, you also may qualify for the child tax credit if you were raising a child in your home for at least six months during 2006,” Pankow says. “However, a single or married worker must have a taxable earned income above $11,300 to qualify.”

The child must live with the worker in the U.S. and be under age 17. Parents of full-time college students under the age of 24 or students of any age who have total and permanent disabilities also may be able to claim the CTC. The child must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien and must have either a valid Social Security number or an individual taxpayer identification number.

Qualifying children can include:

• Sons, daughters, stepchildren, grandchildren and adopted children
• Brothers, sisters, stepbrothers or stepsisters - as well as descendents of such relatives
• Foster children who are placed with the worker by an authorized government or private placement agency.

To claim the child tax credit, you will need to file form 8812, as well as form 1040 or 1040A.

NDSU Agriculture Communication