Hurricane Irma credit or using 2016 numbers? heard of this?

[tax-crazy703]

I was told in one online tax preparer that because of being in the Hurricane disaster area you could use your 2016 tax amount line 22 or 37 for 2017 income amount.

[Vanessa]

Yes, you can use your 2016 numbers instead of the 2017 numbers if it produces a better result for your EITC or Child Tax Credit.  To do this, once you enter your personal information in TurboTax it will look at your state of residence and ask you if you were affected by the hurricane. If you select yes, it will ask you again when you get to the sections where your previous years AGI can be used instead of your current year AGI. 

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