Denied earned income tax credit

[kriterbrad]

I got a letter rejecting me from claiming earned income tax credit this year. My income is below the maximum and I do have a qualifying child to claim. It says I was rejected due to being under 25 years old. Is this an error or did they change the requirements? I've received the credit for the past 3 years and none of my income or situation has changed.

[SweetieJean]

Are you yourself a dependent ?

[kandyeb]

Yes

[mdgaumer]

no

[kerriP · Accepted solution]

Was this from the IRS?  Did someone else claim your dependent? You may have to call the IRS and find out what documentation they need.  But to answer your question, if you have a qualifying child, then you can claim the credit when you are under 25.  If you do not have a qualifying child, then you have to be 25 to qualify for the earned income credit.  So it sounds like there was not a dependent on your return.  If not, then you can amend and add your dependent.

Go back and double check your return information especially all the answers for your child- including age, Social Security number, and all the related questions about support etc.  

[kriterbrad]

Interesting, no nobody can claim me as a dependent. And yes I claimed my child on the return, the schedule EIC was attached and everything. Regardless, it sounds like an error and I should've received it so I'll have to call them, thanks.

[kriterbrad]

And yes, it was from the IRS

[maglib]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/do-i-qualify-for-earned-... exact IRS rules..  does the child live with you in your home alone or is there others sharing the home such as the other parent?   Possibly the other parent claimed your child?  IMPORTANT:  Only one person can claim the same child. If a child qualifies for more than one person and one of the persons is a parent or parents, the non-parent can claim the child only if their AGI is higher than the parent(s). If the child qualifies another relative and the parent AGI rules do not apply, the taxpayers choose. If more than one person claims the same child, IRS applies the tiebreaker rules. Read more about Qualifying Child of More Than One Person here.

[kriterbrad]

Yes, the child lives with us (her mom and I) in the same house, and just myself claimed her.

[maglib]

Any chance you live in a common law marriage state?

[kerriP]

And does the mom file a return and have more income than you?

[abflores1]

From my understanding I have to wait for the IRS to tell me that someone else has claimed my dependent but my e-file was rejected because of my inclusion of my dependent when I filed. Will there be an automatic report to me from the IRS or how to I make that contact first. The IRS site says to not use form3949-A for this purpose so I am not certain where to go at this point. I went ahead and files without that dependent assuming that I could file an amended return once I got direction...

[KrisD15]

No, the IRS won't issue any report until two people each file a return claiming the same dependent.

Since you removed the dependent in order to efile, which makes sense, you will need to paper-file an amended return after that original return processes. 

Once the IRS see that two Taxpayers claimed the same dependent, they will launch an investigation. 

[CoopDaKing]

I don’t have my pin

[PattiF]

To clarify this, do you need your IPIN ID from the IRS or is it something else?