I don't know the exact details, but the recently-signed Budget bill implemented a temporary one year look-back for earned income...for use with the EIC .
From one of the TTX help pages explaining this:
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"Special Lookback for Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit
This is a very important provision which has the potential to help workers who experienced lower income in 2020, or received unemployment income in lieu of their regular wages, get bigger tax credits and larger refunds in the coming year.
The special lookback rule will allow lower income individuals to use their earned income from 2019 to determine their Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit in 2020, since their lower 2020 income could reduce the amount they are eligible for.
The Earned Income Tax Credit is the country’s largest program for working people with low to moderate income. More than 25 million eligible tax filers received federal Earned Income Tax Credit last tax season and the average Earned Income Tax Credit was $2,476 per filer."
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https://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/tax-news/new-coronavirus-relief-package-passed-what-does-it-mean-fo...
____________*Answers are correct to the best of my knowledge when posted, but should not be considered to be legal or official tax advice.*
