You must meet these factors:
1. Earned Income
You must have earned income from wages, tips, self-employment or long-term disability payments paid by your employer of at least $1. The following income sources do not count as earned income and therefore you will not qualify for the EITC if the majority of your income are from these sources: unemployment benefits, child support, Social Security, alimony, welfare benefits, food stamps, job training benefits, or nontaxable employee pay.
2. Filing Status
Your filing status on your tax return must be single, married filing jointly, head of household or qualified widow/widower. If your filing status is married filing separately, you will not qualify for the EITC.
3. Investment Income
Your investment income (interest, dividends and profit from selling stocks) must be below $3,450.
4. Social Security Number
You, your spouse and all your children must have Social Security numbers that are valid for employment.
5. Qualifying Child
Any child you claim for the EITC must be related to you biologically or through formal adoption or foster placement. You may claim children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews who you support, who live with you more than half of the year and who are either 18 years old or younger or who are full time students 23 years old or younger. In addition, the child cannot file a joint return for the year (other than for a claim of refund). A child who is married generally will not be a qualifying child.
What If My Child Is The Qualifying Child of Someone Else?
To claim a child for the EITC, the child must have lived with you for a majority of nights during the tax year. If both parents try to claim the same child for the EITC, then the parent with whom the child resided the longest during the year will be allowed to claim the EITC.
If the child lived with both parents equally, then the parent with the highest adjusted gross income (AGI) will be allowed to claim the EITC.