If both parents want to claim the Earned Income Credit, who is entitled to it if there was no marriage?

If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, they may choose which one will claim the credit. If there are two qualifying children, each parent may claim the credit on the basis of one of the children or one parent may claim the credit with both children. If both actually claim the credit on the basis of the same child or children, the parent who is entitled to the credit is the parent with whom the child lived for the longest period of time during the tax year, or the parent with the higher Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the year.

Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for full discussion of the Earned Income Credit rules.

Can I get the earned income credit?

You may be able to take this credit for 2004 if you did not have a qualifying child and you earned less than $11,490 ($12,490 for married filing jointly). You may also be able to take this credit if you had one qualifying child and you earned less than 30,338 ($31,338 for married filing jointly), or you had more than one qualifying child and you earned less than $34,458 ($35,458 for married filing jointly). Other rules apply. For details, refer to Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit (EIC), or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.

Can Form 1040EZ be used to claim the Earned Income Credit?

You can use Form 1040EZ (PDF) when claiming the Earned Income Credit only if you do not have a qualifying child. However, you must meet several requirements to use Form 1040EZ. If you do not meet all of them, you must use Form 1040A (PDF) or Form 1040 (PDF). For additional information on the requirements, refer to Tax Topic 352, Which Form - 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.