You may qualify for the Earned Income
Credit even if you don't claim
your children as dependents on your tax return. Your children must meet all of the
requirements to be a qualifying child for the credit. To qualify, your child must:
- Be your
child (including legally adopted), stepchild, foster child, sibling,
half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them (for example,
your grandchild or niece); and
- Be
permanently and totally disabled OR under
the age of 19 as of December 31, 2015 (under 24 if a full-time student)
and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly); and
- Have
lived with you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) for more than half the
year; and
- Not file
jointly with their spouse unless they weren't required to file but did so
anyway to claim a tax refund; and
- Have a
valid Social Security Number (not an ITIN).
TurboTax will
automatically walk you through the process when you add the dependent on the
tax return as long as you are the custodial parent (the child lived with
for more than half of the year). If your child lived with you for more than half
of the year, and you indicate that in the personal information section, then
you will have the option to claim your child as a non-dependent for EIC and
that the other parent is claiming the child as a dependent.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3299933
