Do I qualify for EIC?

Question

I know that as long as my baby is born before Dec 31st I qualify for the Child Tax credit...which I know he will be. (Having a scheduled C-Section Friday). This year I have only made under $10,000 due to pregnancy complications. I tried using a tax calc to determine my refund but it came out nearly DOUBLE what I actually paid. I have heard you can get more back w/ Child Tax and EIC. But do I qualify for EIC?? And if so is it normal to get back that much more than I paid?? I'm not married if that helps any.

Answer 1

Your child will be a qualifying child for EIC. There are several other qualifications you have to satisfy as well, which you can check at irs.gov, using the EITC Assistant (use the 2006 version, it will be almost identical to 2007):

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=130102,00.html

If you made $10,000 and file as single and claim your child, you will get an EIC of $2,853. Your taxes will be zero, so you will receive over $2,853 plus any withholding you had taken out of your pay.

Answer 2

Yes, you'd qualify for EIC. And many if not most people who do end up getting back more than they paid in. The child tax credit isn't what's called refundable, so it can only take your taxes to zero, but the EIC is refundable which means you get the amount you're eligible for whether you owed any tax or not. You should get back whatever you paid in for federal income tax withholding. plus the EIC amount you are eligible for.

Good luck.

Answer 3

I agree with the above answer. You probably know that you will get a dependent's exemption of $3400 for your baby. Your single status has a standard deduction of $5350 and you also can claim a personal exemption of $3400 for your self.