Eic and ctc

[twinheidi]

I was reading that you can use last year’s adjusted gross income for your EIC and your CTC my question is does it matter if last year’s AGI is higher or lower than this years?

[Jenn w]

@skittlezzz

That’s good to hear!! I’m hoping it doesn’t cause any major delays cause this year is when we need any and all $$ we are entitled to..

[Oh,thereyouare]

I’ve heard this will cause a delay as well. Not sure?

[Skittlezzz]

Jenn W apparently it’s not holding some back because I saw someone who used 2019 EIC and has a DDD of 2/18. I think the stimulus would hold it up honestly. I don’t know.

[Skittlezzz]

Right. And if your 2020 is higher than 75K then don’t file til u receive your stimulus check next month. If u receive a stimulus check and it’s an overpayment u will not have to pay it back unless it’s for a deceased dependent.

[Mel]

It has to do with EARNED income…not unearned. You can only use your 2019 income if the earned income was more than 2020 earned income. This is to higher your EITC if you want. Mainly because millions of people recieved mostly unearned income for 2020. If your 2020 earned income was higher than 2019 you cannot use your 2019 to increase your EITC.

[Jenn w]

I was told by jh that by filing w the look back credit, it can delay the refund for up to 8 mos and had to sign a paper saying I agreed and wouldn’t hold jh reliable ??!!! Has anyone else been told this?

[Chloe]

@twinheidi yes, this is basically supposed to help people who were on unemployment. Unemployment is not earned income, so it can’t be used for the credits. I don’t know about the person below mey post’s situation, but in my case I had higher income, much higher, but could use LAST year’s AGI for my credits bc my earned income was lower.

[Kaylee]

You can only use last years AGI if this year, you made too little to qualify for EIC. So your income in 2019 has to be higher than in 2020.

I can’t use my 2019 income to claim EIC this year because my income in 2020 went up significantly.

[Skittlez27]

I used 2020s income. W2 plus Self Employed. Refund was lower if I used 2020 because my W2 income was much higher than 2019 so I didn’t owe as much especially since I claimed zero on my W2 the whole year which I usually don’t. HOH EIC CTC filed February 10th on turbo tax… transmitted 2/12…. still pending acceptance

[KittyKatAteTheTiger]

There are also some refundable credits that don’t max out if you make very little income or your expenses are less( like less childcare expenses) since it’s supposed to help pay what you owe.

for example you can qualify for EITC even if you had no income but to qualify for the CTC you need to have made more than $2,500

[KittyKatAteTheTiger]

info in eitc and ctc:

https://www.eitc.irs.gov/

here is a link if you’d like actual income amounts:

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/earned-income-and-earned-income-tax-credit-eitc-tables#EITC%20Tables

[KittyKatAteTheTiger]

If you made so much you start to phase out of the max benefit one year, the year you made less is a better choice. I used TT and it let me go between the two years’ income to see which was a better bet. In my circumstance, there was no major difference but it was super helpful to know I wasn’t making a mistake and missing out.

[Author]

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