My 2016 income was higher than my 2017. Do I have to have my principal home in a hurricane area in order to use my 2016 income for the EIC if my 2017 income is lower?

[AnnetteB · Accepted solution]

Yes, if your primary residence or primary place of business was located in an area that was declared a disaster relief zone, then you may qualify to use your 2016 earned income amount to calculate your 2017 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). 

Use the following links to determine whether your location is part of the disaster relief area: 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/help-for-victims-of-hurricanes-irma-and-maria

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-for-victims-of-hurricane-harvey-in-texas

In TurboTax you need to be sure that you have indicated that your home was in the disaster area.  Then as you go through the rest of your return, if there is disaster relief available, you will see appropriate questions that you will need to answer to apply the tax relief. 

If you are using TurboTax online, when you visit the My Info section and enter your name there will be a follow-up question to ask about whether you were affected by the 2017 hurricanes. 

If you are using a CD/downloaded version of TurboTax, when you visit the Personal Info section and enter your name, there will be a follow-up screen that includes a check-box for disaster relief because of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, or Maria.

Click on the thumbnail pictures below for a visual reference of these screens.

[thkhchsh]

I live in Maine and we did have a large natural disaster from this year's storms that knock power out of the whole state for a week and caused lots of damage and business loss. I do know that Maine officials were seeking a disaster declaration but, I dont know if the IRS has considered our state for this tax benefit.

[AnnetteB]

I took a quick look, but I did not see any IRS tax provisions listed for Maine.  Use this link to check for yourself:  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations">https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-rel...>

[thkhchsh]

Thanks, I checked the link you provided and also called the IRS and as of now Maine is not listed.

[Zbucklyo]

If your primary residence was not in a disaster relief zone, you may not use your 2016 income to determine your EIC for 2017.

[thkhchsh]

I live in Maine and back at the end of Oct of 2017 we did have a storm that was declared a disaster by the president. It opened up federal funding to help our state but, I couldn't find any place where Maine was indicated as a place which could claim this tax benefit.