How can I suppress eic on a single person

[michele]

Single has child but living with father of baby  She does not provide over 1/2 of her own support. since his income is greater he gets child and ctc. and she really should not get eic

I went to screen 38 and put  a -1 in earned income and is still giving me eic.  Maybe it knows she needs it (lol)

[George4Tacks]

Are you positive this single wage earner does not qualify?

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/who-qualifies-for-the-ea...

[michele]

I don't believe she qualifies. She only made $10,000 and  boyfriend made 60,000 I don't believe she meets the support test since all 3 live together. So I would say he is supporting her and she is probably disqualified from eic

thanks

[George4Tacks]

Screen 38 > Earned Income Credit > next to last entry - enter a 1=print "No" on Form 1040

[George4Tacks]

ALSO: If your state also has an EIC, you may have to make an entry to suppress it. The requirements and input to suppress will vary by state. 

[TaxGuyBill]

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@michele wrote:

Single has child but living with father of baby  She does not provide over 1/2 of her own support. since his income is greater he gets child and ctc.

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If he is claiming the child, the child should not be entered on your clients return at all.

However, if they AGREE, he does not need to claim the child, and your client may be able to claim the child and all applicable tax benefits.

[rbynaker]

I haven't done EIC in a while but I don't remember a Support Test.  Is that new?  I didn't see it on the link that George provided.

[michele]

he is claiming the child I do not have the child on her return. It has always been my understanding that the one making the most money should claim the child when they live together and he is supporting them.

[rbynaker]

Do you need a child in order to qualify for EIC?

[TaxGuyBill]

If they both try to claim the child, the person with the highest AGI would 'win'.

However, they DO have the option for him to not claim the child, and your client could claim the child.   However, the higher income person would lose Head of Household.

As I mentioned before, if the other person is claiming the child, why are you entering the child AT ALL on your client's tax return?

[TaxGuyBill]

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@rbynaker wrote:

Do you need a child in order to qualify for EIC?

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Good point.  It may be a childless EIC.

[michele]

no

[George4Tacks]

I believe @michele is not seeing the context of KEEPING UP A HOME. It is in reference to the section above it about Head of Household and Qualifying Widow(er).

It is not a specific requirement of EIC. 

A better reference is Pub 596

[michele]

No the child is not on her return. We only have a handful of eitc out of the thousands we prepare.

[George4Tacks]

I am saying that a single person does not need to provide more than 1/2 the cost of keeping up the home. You seem to have read that they do. 

[George4Tacks]

Start on page 211 of the PDF https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4012.pdf