Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

THE forthcoming income tax season promises several tax credit changes due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) that will boost tax refunds for many taxpayers. A major development for low- to moderate-income families is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).

So how does this affect your bottom line as a taxpayer? Here are the 2009 EITC eligibility requirements:

• $35,463 if you have one child in your home
• $40,295 if you have two children in your home
• $43,279 if you have three or more children in your home
• If you don’t have children, made less than $13,440, and were between the ages of 25 and 64 years during 2009, you may be eligible, too.
• Add $5,000 to the figures if you are married and filing jointly.

To get the EITC, workers can file as: "single," "head of household" or "married filing jointly." But the EITC is not available to taxpayers who file as "married filing separately."

Claiming the EITC will not negatively impact someone’s ability to qualify for food or cash assistance, Social Security, Medical Assistance or subsidized housing programs. This tax credit is available to anyone who worked even if they don’t have enough income that would mandate them to file federal income tax return. The key here is to file your return even if you don’t think you have enough income.

EITC can be claimed by both US citizens and legal residents. Many legal immigrants who are employed can get the EITC. Previous changes in federal law that denied public benefits such as food stamps and SSI to many legal immigrants did not apply to the EITC.

The EITC does not create "public charge" problems for immigrant workers. Receiving the EITC is not considered an indication that the immigrant is unable to support him- or herself financially. In general, information on a tax return is confidential.

In order to claim the EITC, immigrant workers, their spouses, and children listed on Schedule EITC must each have valid Social Security numbers that permit them to work legally in the United States.