I checked my 1040 form EIC 17A. it is blank. does that mean that I would have to amend my taxes to fix my EIC?

[diytaxesfun]

we are overseas in the military and filed through turbotax. someone informed us that we were still able to qualify for eic, but we already filed our taxes. Just verifying if line EIC 17A is blank, that means we would need to amend our taxes?

[AnthonyC · Accepted solution]

Yes, that means that no EIC was applied to your return.  From your question, I imagine that you answered that you lived outside the US in 2018 and didn't factor in that overseas military service does not count as living outside the US.

The Form 1040X (amendment forms) will not be ready until mid-February but TurboTax will walk you through the amendment process and I have included a link below that will help you get started.  However, you are going to want to wait until you have actually received your first refund before you start the amendment (this is the advice that the IRS gives).  This is because if there are any other issues in your return or forms that come up while the IRS is processing your return, you do not want to have to amend a second time.  It is a cumbersome process. 

Click here for instructions on how to file an amended return.

If you want to look over the EIC rules and eligibility, I would suggest looking at this site and maybe using the IRS EITC assistant before you go through the amendment process to make sure you are otherwise eligible (i.e. that your income isn't too high)

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit

[diytaxesfun]

Thank you so very much for your quick response! It is very helpful!