Should I take the Earned Income Credit?? Odd Question

[davsea17]

Basically I sent in my taxes (self employed) live in the US year round etc.

I qualified for EIC in 2020 but like 6 months after filing  .....I got a notice of balance due........no reason given, but it was the exact amount of the earned income credit plus interest etc. So paid it the same day because #Anxiety - I wasn't going to call about something like that .

Anyways fast forward to now........I don't know if they disqualified me from it? Never got a single letter- same address the whole time for years........no other notices at all. Just that weird balance due notice that I paid (yes it was legit lol- I paid not to that letter, but via the main site online where I send my estimated taxes.

Anyways......now they want to give me a large Earned income credit for 2021........can I just refuse it or should I?

I don't have a clue why they send me that balance due, because I did qualify for it, but now I worry about taking it.........as this could happen again and then I'll owe a large amount back...........hmmmmmmn not sure how to decline it on turbotax - but it's not fun to decline as it's large- but I don't want any issues for taking it etc.......

I have no idea why I had to pay it back, they didn't provide any explanation just a balance due notice etc from 2020

[DavidD66]

I can't speak to why you had to repay the EIC in 2020; however, I can tell you that the Earned Income Credit has been expanded.  If you qualify, you should take it.  For 2021, the EITC is generally available to filers without qualifying children who are at least 19 years old with earned income below $21,430; $27,380 for spouses filing a joint return. The maximum EITC for filers with no qualifying children is $1,502, up from $538 in 2020.  For more information see Earned Income Tax Credit