Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Assistant

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) helps low-to-moderate income workers and families get a tax break. Answer some questions to see if you qualify.


General Information

Answer a few quick questions about yourself to see if you qualify.

All fields are required.

Tax Year

For wages and other income earned in:

  • 2023, select 2023
  • 2022, select 2022
  • 2021, select 2021
  • 2020, select 2020

Full-Year Resident

If your permanent home is or was in Maryland OR your permanent home is outside of Maryland, but you maintained a place to live in Maryland and were physically present in the state for at least 183 days, you are a full-year resident.

Part-Year Resident

If you either established or abandoned Maryland residency during the calendar year, you are considered a part-year resident. See instruction 26 in the Maryland Tax Booklet for more information on claiming the Earned Income Credit.

If you are neither a Full-Year Resident nor a Part-Year Resident, you are not a resident.

Valid Taxpayer Identification Number

You must have a taxpayer identification number (TIN) that is issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) or Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on or before the due date of your tax return (including extensions).

A taxpayer identification number includes

  • a Social Security Number (SSN),
  • Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN),
  • Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN),
  • and an SSN issued solely to allow the recipient of the SSN to apply for or receive a federally funded benefit such as Medicaid.

Excluded Foreign earned income

This refers to income you earned outside the United States, District of Columbia, or U.S. possessions or territories which you have elected to exclude on a Form 2555, Foreign earned income, or Form 2555-EZ, Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

You as a Dependent or Qualifying Child

In most cases you cannot be a dependent or qualifying child of another taxpayer to claim the EITC.

  • In most cases, if you’re under age 19 or a student under age 24 and live with your parents or other relatives in the United States for more than half of the year, select Yes.
  • If you’re married and filing a joint return, you can’t be claimed as a dependent unless you’re only filing a joint return to claim a refund of withheld income taxes or estimated taxes paid.

For more information about whether someone can claim you as a dependent, visit Whom May I Claim as a Dependent?

For more information about whether someone can claim you as a qualifying child for the EITC, see Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, You Cannot Be a Qualifying Child of Another Taxpayer.

We’ll ask about children or relatives you might claim later.