ne in five eligible taxpayers don’t claim this credit worth up to $7,830
TX-2025-02, Jan. 31, 2025
WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service and partners around the nation today celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) with the launch of this year’s Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day campaign.
The annual campaign, now in its 19th year, helps increase awareness among the millions of working Americans with a low-to-moderate income who are eligible for the EITC. The IRS estimates that roughly one in five eligible taxpayers miss out on claiming this valuable credit.
EITC was signed into law on March 29, 1975. Through numerous legislative changes, the tax break has helped encourage work and lift many financially challenged families out of poverty.
As of December 2024, approximately 23 million workers and families had received about $64 billion total from the EITC, according to IRS statistics. On average, eligible taxpayers received $2,743 from the credit in tax year 2023.
In Texas, more than 2.5 million workers and families received about $7.9 billion total in EITC for tax year 2023. On average, taxpayers in Texas received $3,083.
Workers may use the EITC Assistant, an online tool, to check their eligibility, which may be affected by changes in marital, parental or financial status. Workers also may visit the Child-related Tax Benefits Comparison page to learn more about basic eligibility rules for the EITC and several other tax credits.
The Where’s My Refund? tool, which allows taxpayers to monitor the status of their refunds, will be updated with projected deposit dates for most early EITC/ACTC refund filers by Feb. 22. Most EITC or ACTC related refunds should be available in bank accounts or on debit cards by March 3 if there are no issues with a taxpayer’s return and they chose to receive their refund by direct deposit.
Whether they qualify for the EITC, taxpayers may be eligible for other valuable tax credits like the Child Tax Credit (CTC), the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) or the Credit for Other Dependents (ODC). The Interactive Tax Assistant is a helpful tool for taxpayers to check their eligibility for those credits.
As a reminder, the quickest way to get a tax refund is by filing an accurate tax return electronically and choosing direct deposit as the method to receive a refund.