EITC Information for Employers
Help your employees boost their incomes at no cost to you!
What is EITC?
EITC, the Earned Income Tax Credit, sometimes called EIC is a tax credit to help people keep more of what they earned. It is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families. Congress originally approved the tax credit legislation in 1975 in part to offset the burden of social security taxes and to provide an incentive to work. If EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those who claim and qualify for the credit.Workers must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if you do not owe any tax or are not required to file to get the credit.
How Can You Help?
Four out of five eligible workers claim EITC and you can help your employees join others who benefit from this important financial boost.
You may be required to let your employees know about EITC.
- See Notice 1015, Have you told your employees about the Earned Income Tax Credit?, for more information on your responsibilities for notifying your employees about EITC, sometimes called EIC. See Publication 15, Chapter 10, to find out if you are required. For a sample of information to provide your employer, see Notice 797, Possible Federal Tax Refund Due to the Earned Income Credit, EIC.
You may want to hang a poster on your bulletin board or have EITC flyers or brochures available for you employees or placed in thier wage statements.
We suggest our Publications 4718, EmployerPoster (available in both English and Spanish versions), with an important message from IRS about EITC, or our Publications 962, Envelope stuffers (English, Spanish and an English/Spanish version), or our Publications 3211, EITC Question and Answers (Combined English and Spanish). To find out more about these and other EITC products, see our Forms and Publications page. Order one copy of each online here or for more than one copy, call 1-800-829-3676.
You may want to link your employees to important EITC information
- EITC Assistant--Include a link to this application on your internal website to help your employees determine whether they qualify for EITC or estimate the amount. Click here for the English Version of the EITC Assistant or o haga click aquí para seleccionar la Versión en Español del Asistente EITC.
- EITC Income Limits, Maximum Credit Amounts and Tax Law Updates--Include a link to year specific information your employees can check to see if they meet the income limitations and the maximum credit amounts here
- Frequently Asked Questions about EITC--Click here to get and share answers to the most common questions employees ask about EITC.
EITC Marketing and Communication Tools
Access brochures, payroll stuffers, newsletter articles, marketing ideas and more to help you communicate EITC information to your employees. Click here to link to our Employer Page on the EITC Partner Toolkit (note your leave irs.gov to visit our toolkit and receive a notice).
Note: The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 signed into law August 10, 2010 repealed the Advance EITC or AEITC. It will not be available to workers after December 31, 2010. Workers who received the payments in their paychecks will need to file a tax return to claim the amount paid. Partner Information
Network with other employers, government agencies, social service organizations, etc. in your community who have a vested interest in reaching and educating low income workers about EITC. Find out how you can help…send an email to partner@irs.gov. Or find out more information about being an IRS partner on our page, Become an IRS Partner to Help your Community.
