I made roughly $7,000 (gross) more this year, and my tax refund is around $2,500 less. I owed/paid $0 federal tax in both situations, does that sound right?

I made roughly $7,000 (gross, between my wife and I) more this year(2017), and my tax refund is around $2,500 less. I owed/paid $0 federal tax in both situations, does that sound right?

I compared both last year and this year, and my EIC seems lower (of course I'm not sure the differences between last year and this years EIC amounts)

Is the EIC higher the less you make?

Just a little confused and want to make sure the math seems right, because this is my get out of debt season and I need every penny!

posted

EIC is calculated on a bell curve...it goes up as your income goes up, and then starts to come down. Higher income can also mean a higher tax bracket.

ERIC tables are at the end of this publication:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

Tax brackets:

https://taxfoundation.org/2017-tax-brackets/