EITC Calculator 2026: How Much You Get, the Income Limits and Where It Ends

For tax year 2026, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is worth up to $664 for a worker with no children, $4,427 with one child, $7,316 with two and $8,231 with three or more. Where it ends depends on your family, for example at $58,629 of income for a single parent with two children: put in your household to see your own credit and the pay where it stops.

How much is the EITC for 2026?

The most the EITC can be for tax year 2026 is $664 with no qualifying children, $4,427 with one, $7,316 with two and $8,231 with three or more. A qualifying child is a child who passes the IRS’s tests for this credit, explained further down. The amounts are in Revenue Procedure 2025-32, section 4.06, the IRS notice that sets each year’s tax figures.

Tax year 2026 is the work you do from January through December 2026. You claim the credit on the federal tax return you file in 2027. The return you filed in 2026 was for tax year 2025, when the amounts were a little lower; the IRS lists them on its EITC income limits page.

Income is earned income or adjusted gross income, whichever is higher, for the year. The credit is not allowed with more than $12,200 of investment income. Workers without a qualifying child must be 25 to 64.

Sources: Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (tax year 2026 inflation adjustments, as modified for Public Law 119-21) (IRS); Public Law 119-21 (4 Jul 2025), the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act / "Working Families Tax Cut" law (GPO (govinfo)); IRS Topic 751 Social Security and Medicare withholding rates (IRS); 90 FR 49047 (3 Nov 2025): SSA, Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026 (Federal Register (SSA)); 26 U.S.C. 32 (earned income credit), US Code 2024 edition (GPO (govinfo)); IRS: Who qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) (IRS); 26 U.S.C. 24 (child tax credit), US Code 2024 edition (before Public Law 119-21) (GPO (govinfo)); IRS: Child Tax Credit page (describes tax year 2025) (IRS); 26 U.S.C. 86, Social security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits (United States Code, 2023 edition) (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo)); 26 U.S.C. 1401 Rate of tax (self-employment), U.S. Code 2024 edition (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov)); 26 U.S.C. 1402 Definitions (net earnings from self-employment), U.S. Code 2024 edition (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov)); 26 U.S.C. 32 Earned income (credit), U.S. Code 2024 edition (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov)); 26 U.S.C. 24 Child tax credit, U.S. Code 2024 edition (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov)); 26 U.S.C. 199A Qualified business income, U.S. Code 2024 edition (before Public Law 119-21) (U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo.gov)); Public Law 119-21, 4 July 2025, sec. 70105 (26 U.S.C. 199A as extended and amended), 139 Stat. 161-162 (U.S. Congress via the Government Publishing Office); Rev. Proc. 2025-32, inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, sections 2.12 and 4.26 (IRS). Checked October 31, 2026.

How to read the table: “Most it pays” is the full credit. “Earnings that get the most” is the pay at which the credit stops growing. “Starts to shrink above” is the income where it starts to go down for everyone except married couples filing a joint return (one tax return for both spouses). The last two columns are the income where it reaches zero.

Who can get the EITC?

You can get the EITC if you worked, your income is under the limit for your family, and you meet the rules below. This is the short version; the IRS page Who qualifies for the EITC has them in full.

• You have earned income: pay from a job or from working for yourself (more below).
• You, your spouse if you file a joint return, and each child you claim have a Social Security number that is valid for work.
• You are a US citizen or a resident alien for the whole year. Someone who was a nonresident alien for part of the year can qualify only on a joint return with a spouse who is a citizen or resident, by choosing to be treated as a resident.
• Your investment income for the year is not more than $12,200.
• You do not file Form 2555, the form for income earned abroad.
• If you are married, you file a joint return. You can file separately and still get the credit only if a qualifying child lived with you for more than half the year and you lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year, or you are legally separated.
• You have a qualifying child, or you meet the rules for workers without one, which include an age range of 25 to 64.

What counts as earned income for the EITC?

Earned income is money you get from working: wages, salary and tips from a job, and your net earnings if you work for yourself. The IRS also counts union strike benefits, certain disability benefits paid before you reach the minimum retirement age, and nontaxable combat pay if you choose to include it (IRS: EITC income limits).

It does not count interest or dividends, pensions or annuities, Social Security, unemployment benefits, alimony, child support, or pay for work done while in prison.

Tips and overtime count in full. A new deduction for tax years 2025 to 2028 can take part of your tip or overtime pay out of the income you pay tax on (Public Law 119-21, sections 70201 and 70202), but the IRS says to count all of it as earned income for the EITC.

Once the credit starts to shrink, the IRS looks at your earned income or your adjusted gross income, whichever is higher (26 U.S.C. 32(a)). Adjusted gross income (AGI) is the income on your tax return after a few adjustments but before the standard deduction, so it also includes things like interest and unemployment benefits. If you have other income besides pay, your credit can be smaller than your pay alone would give.

How does the EITC grow, level off and shrink?

The EITC grows with each dollar you earn, stays at its most over a stretch of pay, and then shrinks as your income rises until it reaches zero. The rates are written into the law itself, 26 U.S.C. 32(b), and stay the same every year. Each year the IRS adjusts only the dollar amounts where each stage starts and ends, for inflation.

1. EarnThe EITC starts with the first dollar of pay; the Child Tax Credit's refund part, with pay above $2,500 a year
2. EITC phases inGrows with each dollar to its maximum
3. PlateauStays at the maximum for a stretch of pay
4. Phase-outShrinks as pay rises, slowly
5. Child Tax CreditPer child under 17; part of it is paid even with no tax owed
6. RefundBoth come once a year, with the tax return

• It grows (the phase-in). The credit is 7.65 cents for each dollar you earn with no qualifying children, 34 cents with one child, 40 cents with two, and 45 cents with three or more.
• It levels off (the plateau). Once your earnings reach the amount in the table’s “Earnings that get the most” column, the credit stays at its most until your income passes the “Starts to shrink above” amount.
• It shrinks (the phase-out). Above that point, each extra dollar of income takes away 7.65 cents of credit with no children, 15.98 cents with one child, and 21.06 cents with two or more.

Three families show the three stages. For a single parent with two children earning $9,000 a year, the EITC is $3,610: 40 cents for each dollar earned, because at that pay the credit is still growing. For a single parent with two children earning $20,000 a year, it is $7,316, the most it pays with two children, because that pay is on the level stretch. For a single parent with one child earning $28,000 a year, it is $3,774, because that income is past the point where the credit for one child starts to shrink.

Married couples who file a joint return can get the same most, but their credit starts to shrink at a higher income, so it ends later too. With two children, for example, it ends at $58,629 for a single parent and at $65,899 for a married couple filing jointly.

The IRS works out the credit from a table that moves in steps of $50 of income, each step’s credit worked out at the middle of the step, and the calculator does the same, so its amount is the one in the table (26 U.S.C. 32(f)).

Does the EITC stop all at once if I earn more?

No. When your pay goes up, the EITC shrinks by a few cents for each extra dollar; it never stops all at once. With one child, each dollar of income in the shrinking range takes about 16 cents of credit, so a raise always adds more to your pay than it takes from your EITC.

Here is the same kind of family at two levels of pay. For a single parent with one child earning $28,000 a year, the EITC is $3,774. For a single parent with one child earning $34,000 a year, it is $2,815. The second family earns more and gets less credit, but the credit it loses is much smaller than its extra pay.

That is why the EITC is not a cliff. On this site, a cliff is a point where one more dollar of pay ends a benefit worth far more than that dollar. The EITC has only one rule that works like that, and it is about investment income, not pay (see below).

The slow shrink still adds up with everything else that changes as your pay rises. Social Security and Medicare taxes take 7.65 cents of each dollar you earn (IRS Topic 751). Once you owe federal income tax, the first rates are 10% and 12% (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). SNAP, help with health insurance and other benefits can shrink over the same range of pay, and some benefits stop all at once at a set income. Each piece may be small, but together they can take a large part of a raise.

The calculator adds all of these up for your household at every level of pay. It shows what a raise really leaves you, and where, if anywhere, a benefit you get would stop at once.

Can I get the EITC without children?

Yes, if you are at least 25 and under 65 at the end of the year and you meet the other rules. On a joint return, at least one of you must be in that age range. The credit without children is small: up to $664, and it ends at $19,540 of income for a single worker, or $26,820 for a married couple filing jointly.

For a 30-year-old with no children earning $12,000 a year, the EITC is $575. For a 23-year-old with no children earning $12,000 a year, it is $0, only because of the age rule. A lower age limit applied for tax year 2021 only, and it has ended (26 U.S.C. 32(n)).

A worker without a qualifying child must also have had their main home in the United States for more than half the year, and cannot be claimed as a dependent or as a qualifying child on someone else’s return. For this rule, the United States means the 50 states and DC, not US territories.

Who is a qualifying child for the EITC?

A qualifying child for the EITC is a child who passes four tests: age, relationship, residency and joint return. The IRS page on qualifying child rules has the details.

• Age: under 19 at the end of the year and younger than you; or under 24, a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year, and younger than you; or any age if permanently and totally disabled.
• Relationship: your son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or eligible foster child; your brother or sister, including half and step brothers and sisters; or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild, niece or nephew.
• Residency: the child lived with you in the United States for more than half the year. Temporary absences count as time lived with you.
• Joint return: the child did not file a joint return for the year, unless it was only to get back tax that was withheld or paid ahead.

Only one person can claim the same child for the EITC. If two or more people could, the IRS has tie-breaker rules for who gets to.

The calculator counts each child you list who is under 19, under 24 and a student, or disabled. It assumes they pass the relationship and residency tests.

Do I need a Social Security number for the EITC?

Yes. You, your spouse if you file jointly, and every child you claim for the EITC must each have a valid Social Security number by the due date of your return, including extensions (26 U.S.C. 32(m)). Valid here means a number that allows the person to work. A number issued only so that someone could get a federally funded benefit, and that does not allow work, does not count. Neither does an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) from the IRS.

The calculator never asks for anyone’s Social Security number. It works the credit out as if everyone has a valid one, so if someone in your household does not, your real credit will be smaller, or nothing.

What is the EITC investment income limit?

For tax year 2026, you cannot get the EITC at all if your investment income is more than $12,200 for the year (Rev. Proc. 2025-32, section 4.06(2)). Investment income here means interest, including tax-exempt interest; dividends; net income from rents and royalties; net capital gains; and net passive income (26 U.S.C. 32(i)).

This is the one real cliff in the EITC. With $12,200 of investment income you can still get the credit your earnings give; one dollar more and you get none of it. The calculator does not ask about investment income, so if yours is close to the limit, check it yourself.

When is the EITC paid?

The EITC is paid once a year, when you file your federal tax return for the year you worked. It first lowers any income tax you owe, and the rest is paid to you as part of your refund, even if you owed no tax at all. That is what “refundable” means. To get it, you have to file a return, even if your income is low.

The calculator spreads the yearly credit over 12 months only so you can set it beside monthly benefits like SNAP. You do not get it month by month.

Does my state add its own EITC?

It depends on your state: many states add their own earned income credit to the federal one. Your state’s page on this site will say whether yours does, once that state’s rules are in our data (see the state pages). Until then, the calculator shows “Not checked yet” for your state’s credits instead of guessing.

What will the EITC be for 2027?

The 2027 amounts are not out yet. As of October 31, 2026, the IRS had not published its list of tax figures for tax year 2027 (it would appear in the IRS newsroom), so this page and the calculator use the 2026 amounts. When the IRS publishes the 2027 figures, we add them here.

Some things will stay the same. The rates at which the credit grows and shrinks, and the age range of 25 to 64 for workers without a qualifying child, are written into the law. The dollar amounts, such as the most the credit pays and the incomes where it shrinks and ends, are adjusted for inflation each year.

Who decides how much EITC I get?

The IRS decides, when it handles your tax return. The calculator gives an estimate from the published rules and the numbers you type; it is not a decision, and nothing on this page is tax advice. To check your own case, use the IRS pages on who qualifies for the EITC and the EITC income limits.

Figures checked October 31, 2026.

Questions people ask

What is the most EITC I can get for 2026?

$8,231, for a family with three or more qualifying children. With two children the most is $7,316, with one $4,427, and with none $664.

What is the EITC income limit with one child?

For tax year 2026, the credit for one child ends at $51,593 of income if you file as single or head of household, and at $58,863 for a married couple filing jointly. Your investment income must also be $12,200 or less.

What is the EITC income limit with two or three children?

With two children it ends at $58,629 (single or head of household) or $65,899 (married filing jointly). With three or more, it ends at $62,974 or $70,244.

Can I get the EITC if I am under 25 and have no children?

No. Without a qualifying child, you, or your spouse on a joint return, must be at least 25 and under 65 at the end of the year. The age rule is only for workers without a qualifying child.

Do unemployment benefits count for the EITC?

They are not earned income, so they do not help you get the credit. They are part of your adjusted gross income, though, and if that is higher than your earnings, the IRS uses it for the shrinking part, so they can make your credit smaller.

Is the EITC paid monthly?

No. It comes once a year, with your tax refund, after you file your federal return. The calculator shows a monthly amount only so you can compare it with monthly benefits.

Can I get the EITC and the Child Tax Credit together?

Yes. They are separate credits, and a working family can get both on the same return. The Child Tax Credit page explains that one, and the calculator works out both.

Updated November 1, 2026