IRS Form W-5, the Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate, was permanently discontinued after tax year 2010 and cannot be used today. It once let eligible workers receive part of their Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in each paycheck instead of waiting for a refund. Now the credit is available only when you file a federal income tax return — Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR — and attach Schedule EIC if you have a qualifying child.
Why Form W-5 Was Repealed
Congress eliminated the advance payment option by repealing 26 U.S.C. § 3507 through the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-226). The repeal applied to tax years beginning after December 31, 2010, so 2010 was the last year any worker could receive advance EITC payments through payroll.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3507 – Advance Payment of Earned Income Credit (Repealed)
While the program ran, an employee handed a completed W-5 to their employer, who then added a portion of the estimated credit to each paycheck. The maximum advance was $1,826 in 2009, the last year a printed form was issued.2Internal Revenue Service. 2009 Form W-5 – Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate Low participation and high error rates led Congress to scrap the mechanism, and no federal replacement exists. Payroll systems no longer process these advances.
How to Claim the EITC Now
File Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR and follow the instructions for line 27, Earned Income Credit. If you have a qualifying child, complete and attach Schedule EIC. The schedule collects each child’s name, Social Security number, date of birth, relationship to you, and the number of months the child lived with you in the United States.3Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Schedule EIC (Form 1040)
If a child was born and died during the tax year and never received an SSN, enter “Died” on the SSN line and attach a copy of the birth certificate, death certificate, or hospital records. Workers claiming the credit without a qualifying child skip Schedule EIC; the credit is figured directly on the return.
Check every name and Social Security number against the actual Social Security card. A mismatch with SSA records is one of the fastest ways to trigger a delay or a denial.
Who Qualifies for the EITC
The EITC is for workers with low-to-moderate earnings. Your credit amount, and whether you qualify at all, turns on how many qualifying children you have, your filing status, and your income. Everyone claiming the credit needs a valid Social Security number issued on or before the return’s due date, including extensions. That requirement applies to your spouse on a joint return and to any child you claim.4Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) does not satisfy this requirement.
Qualifying Child Rules
A qualifying child must meet three tests. The relationship test covers your son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, stepsibling, or a descendant of any of those, such as a grandchild, niece, or nephew. The residency test requires the child to live with you in the United States for more than half the tax year, though temporary absences for school, medical care, or military service still count. The age test requires the child to be under 19 at the end of the tax year, or under 24 if a full-time student for at least five months, with no age limit if the child is permanently and totally disabled.
The child must also be younger than you (or your spouse, on a joint return). A child who was born or died during the year is treated as having lived with you the entire year if your home was the child’s home for more than half the time the child was alive.5Internal Revenue Service. Qualifying Child Rules
Workers Without a Qualifying Child
You can claim a smaller EITC without a qualifying child, but you must be at least 25 and no older than 64 at the end of the tax year. The American Rescue Plan Act’s temporary expansion, which lowered the minimum age to 19 and removed the upper limit, applied only to tax year 2021. You must also have lived in the United States for more than half the year and cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
Filing Status
Married couples filing separately generally cannot claim the EITC. One narrow exception applies: you had a qualifying child who lived with you for more than half the year, and you either lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the tax year or were legally separated under a written agreement or court decree.4Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
2025 and 2026 EITC Amounts and Income Limits
The IRS adjusts EITC thresholds every year for inflation. For 2025 returns filed in early 2026:
- No qualifying children: maximum credit $649. AGI below $19,104 (single, head of household, or qualifying surviving spouse) or $26,214 (married filing jointly).
- One qualifying child: maximum credit $4,328. AGI below $50,434, or $57,554 jointly.
- Two qualifying children: maximum credit $7,152. AGI below $57,310, or $64,430 jointly.
- Three or more qualifying children: maximum credit $8,046. AGI below $61,555, or $68,675 jointly.
Investment income must also be $11,950 or less for 2025.6Internal Revenue Service. Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables
For tax year 2026 (returns filed in early 2027), the limits move up slightly. The maximum credit rises to $664 with no children, $4,427 with one, $7,316 with two, and $8,231 with three or more. AGI ceilings run from $19,540 for a single filer with no children to $70,224 for a married couple filing jointly with three or more children. The 2026 investment income cap is $12,200.
When to Expect Your Refund
The PATH Act requires the IRS to hold the entire refund on any return claiming the EITC or the Additional Child Tax Credit until mid-February, and the hold applies no matter how early you file.7Internal Revenue Service. When to Expect Your Refund if You Claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit
If you e-file with direct deposit and your return has no issues, the IRS says you can generally expect the refund by early March. The “Where’s My Refund” tool on irs.gov shows a personalized status 24 hours after you e-file a current-year return, and it updates once daily, usually overnight.8Internal Revenue Service. Refunds Paper filers should plan for several additional weeks.
Mistakes That Delay or Reduce the Credit
The IRS flags EITC returns at a higher rate than most other credits. The recurring problems are these:9Internal Revenue Service. Common Errors for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
- Claiming a child who fails the relationship, residency, or age test. This is the single most common reason the IRS reduces or denies the credit.
- Two people claiming the same child. Only one taxpayer can claim a particular child, and the IRS applies tiebreaker rules when both file.
- SSN or name mismatches with Social Security Administration records, often caused by a legal name change or a typo.
- Filing as single or head of household while married and living with your spouse during the last six months of the year.
- Underreporting a W-2 or inflating business expenses, which shifts your earned income outside the eligible range.
Penalties and Bans After a Denied Claim
If the IRS denies your claim, the consequences depend on the reason. A math or clerical error is corrected without further penalty. If the IRS determines the claim resulted from reckless or intentional disregard of the rules, you face a two-year ban from claiming the credit. Fraud carries a ten-year ban.10Internal Revenue Service. What to Do if We Deny Your Claim for a Credit
Once a claim is denied or reduced for any reason other than a math error, you must file Form 8862 (Information to Claim Certain Credits After Disallowance) the next time you claim the EITC. The form asks you to show you now meet all eligibility requirements. You file it once; if the IRS allows the credit after reviewing Form 8862, you don’t submit it again in future years unless another denial occurs.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8862
What Form W-5 Used to Require
For anyone reviewing older records, the last printed W-5 covered tax year 2009. The employee filled out a short worksheet to confirm they expected at least one qualifying child, that earned income and AGI would stay below the year’s thresholds, and that investment income would not top the separate cap ($3,100 in 2009). Workers without a qualifying child could still claim the regular EITC on their annual return but were not eligible for the advance paycheck option.2Internal Revenue Service. 2009 Form W-5 – Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate
The form also asked whether your spouse had a W-5 on file with a separate employer, so two employers couldn’t both pay out advances on the same household’s credit. A signature line certified the information under penalties of perjury. The bottom half was detached and given to the employer while the employee kept the top half. If you received advances and turned out to be ineligible, you owed the money back at filing time.