What is the Earned Income Tax Credit?

If you’re like millions of Americans, you work hard but you don’t earn a high income. The Earned Income Tax Credit is a tax credit designed to put money back in the pockets of working people with low-to-moderate incomes. This tax credit can reduce your taxes and help you keep more of what you earn. Filing for the Earned Income Tax Credit means that you could receive a refund payment from the Internal Revenue Service.

To get the Earned Income Tax Credit, you must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if your income from working is low enough that you are not required to file a return.

Filing for and receiving a refund payment from the Earned Income Tax Credit has no effect on many other public benefits you may get. In most cases, the Earned Income Tax Credit payment will not be counted against your eligibility for Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, low-income housing, Workers with Disabilities (WWD) Medicaid Buy-In or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Because the income is a federal return it will not impact any federal programs you participate in, but it is possible that it could impact some of the state funded programs you participate in. Generally the money cannot impact you at all in the month you received it. It is only in the following months that the gross amount of income may impact your benefits.

A Community Work Incentives Coordinator (CWIC) can tell you if and how you might be impacted. CWICs provide a free service to Social Security beneficiaries. You can talk to a CWIC if you are unsure of what public benefits you get, or if you need more information about the impact income will have on the benefits you receive. You can find the nearest CWIC at https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/oesp/providers.nsf/bystate or by calling the Social Security hotline at 1-800-772-1213 and asking for the closest Work Incentive Planning and Assistance center.



Any questions may be directed to: rsi5@srt.com