Does the Pub say you must have earned income in 2020 to use the 2019 lookback?

Yes, it says that but as we have been discussing, if  the purpose of the law is helping people due to the virus, what is the difference between having worked one week in Uber and have not worked at all? Will the Uber qualifies using the provision? 

No, you do not need any 2020 income to claim EIC based on 2019 earnings.

Next I suppose you'll start dithering about Schedule C filers with a loss in 2020 but a profit in 2019.  

No, it does not say that, because then it would be wrong.  

Im not seeing it say that you must have earned income in 2020 to use the 2019 lookback anywhere in Pub 596. 

All it says is that 2019 earned income needs to be more than 2020 earned income.

It is clear in the qualifications, you will not find it in the little paragraph about the provision. That is what have confused from the beginning. 

As I said before, I talked to the EITC department and they told me if a person got unemployment only, that person can not use the provision even if he has 2019 earned income. So who has the truth? 

I dont trust IRS employees to have the right information......trust what the Publication states. 

"As I said before,"

Yes, you are posting this same issue in a few places on this forum. If you keep it to One Topic, all the resources would be available here, and everyone learns. Let's perhaps slow down a bit on multiple postings, to allow the common wisdom to benefit everyone in this one place. Thanks.

I started my tax career answering questions at an IRS toll-free site. From there I went to National Office, where I helped write the test questions that GAO used to determine IRS accuracy rates by IRS Taxpayer Service employees. Since you have demonstrated your faith in calling IRS for answers to tax questions, you can have faith in my answers too. I have learned even more since I left.

At IRS we had contempt for practitioners who could not do their own research. Back then, though, the resources available to the public were not as handy as those IRS publications, and the CCH Master Tax Guide, that we had at the phone sites. IRS has about 75,000 employees. Many of those with the least training, especially the seasonal ones, are assigned to answering phones. Why would anyone expect them to have expertise on a law signed a month ago? On the other hand, most of them have enough sense not to read something into the law that is not there.

This whole non-issue started when someone noticed that zero-AGI returns cannot be e-filed. That would include returns with EIC based on 2019 income, as well as returns eligible for the recovery rebate credit. How that situation got perverted into one involving zero-earned income returns, maybe a psychologist could explain.

I think you are right Bob, the guy I talked was, I could say was lost a little bit. I believe the purpose of the law is to help people  out of work or underworked people due to the pandemic. So to be clear, if you get somebody with unemployment only, and earned income in 2019. Would you do the EITC. How about somebody who did not have even unemployment, nothing at all, let say lived from alimony, child support and food stamps, section 8 ect. Would that person qualify? 

Is it just me or this like Intuit is hosting a Groundhog Day movie marathon?.

Yes. 

If it is a zero-AGI return, you might want to wait for IRS to tell you it's OK to add a dollar of interest so that you can e-file.  

@IRonMaN 

Not so much groundhogs, more like dead horses.  

Is it just me or this like Intuit is hosting a Groundhog Day movie marathon?.

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Ned Ryerson will be along in a few minutes.  Watch that first EITC step, it's a doozy.

"more like dead horses"

I envision people running in circles like chickens with their heads just cut off.

I don't understand why everyone is so hot-to-trot, when the IRS isn't even receiving until mid-Feb and the programs are not finalized. I know what it is like to want to meet deadlines, but being ahead of the software and the receiving agency means everyone should calm down. Look at last year; you no longer get to file the majority of the returns by mid-April, then take off a few weeks. What is going to happen this year? You should be resting now, in preparation for the upcoming slog. Take A Break; you deserve it.

@qbteachmt "I envision people running in circles like chickens with their heads just cut off"

I used the phrase "chickens coming home to roost" last Friday.  Since then I have been wondering where it came from. it has a negative connotation, right?  But if you owned chickens, wouldn't you want them coming home to roost, rather than being eaten by wolves in sheep's clothing?  I'm too lazy to look it up online -- after all, I'm a tax practitioner -- so maybe someone can help here.  

"I used the phrase "chickens coming home to roost" last Friday."

That's more like Karma = you get what you deserve due to prior actions.

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@rbynaker wrote:

Is it just me or this like Intuit is hosting a Groundhog Day movie marathon?.

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Ned Ryerson will be along in a few minutes.  Watch that first EITC step, it's a doozy.

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hahaha!! 

I think I know what you are referring. Do you really think you have all the answers? What you think is useless. 

@athaureaux6  - You have been asking the same questions and getting the same answers.  We each run our own tax practices and we each make our own decisions.  We can't make those decisions for you.  At some point you just need to decide on how you are going to treat the issues and move on.  Have a good tax season.

The IRS released an EITC video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cuuwvs_hLgM