Summary: A qualifying child must meet four IRS tests: relationship (child, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or descendant), age (under 19, under 24 and a full-time student, or any age if disabled, and younger than you), residency (lived with you in the U.S. more than half the year), and the joint return test. Only one person can claim a child, with tiebreakers favoring the parent the child lived with, and divorce paperwork cannot transfer the EITC away from the custodial parent.
Most EITC dollars go to families with children, and most EITC errors involve a child who did not actually qualify. The IRS applies four tests to each child, plus tiebreaker rules when more than one person could claim the same child. Get these right and you avoid the single most common EITC mistake.
The child must be your son or daughter (including adopted children and children placed with you for adoption), stepchild, foster child placed by an authorized agency or court, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild, niece, or nephew.
At the end of the tax year, the child must be younger than you (or younger than your spouse, if filing jointly) and meet one of these: under 19, or under 24 and a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or any age if permanently and totally disabled. A 20 year old who is not a student or disabled does not qualify.
The child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half of the tax year. Temporary absences for school, medical care, or military service generally still count as living with you. A child born or adopted during the year counts as having lived with you the whole year if your home was the child's home for the time the child was alive.
A qualifying child who files a joint return can only do so to claim a refund of withheld tax, with neither the child nor the child's spouse required to file a return.
If a child meets the tests for more than one person, only one can claim the EITC for that child. The tiebreakers work like this. If two parents claim the same child, the parent the child lived with longer wins; if the time was equal, the parent with the higher AGI wins. If a parent and a nonparent both claim, the parent generally wins, unless the nonparent has a higher AGI and the parent does not claim the child. If no parent claims the child, the person with the highest AGI who otherwise qualifies wins.
The EITC follows the child, not the divorce decree. The parent the child lived with for more than half the year, usually the custodial parent, is the one who can claim the EITC. Signing Form 8332 to let the other parent claim the child as a dependent does not transfer the EITC. Only the parent who meets the residency test can claim the credit.
Each qualifying child needs a Social Security number valid for employment, issued by the return due date. An ITIN for the child means no EITC for that child.
Generally yes. A child born during the tax year is treated as having lived with you for the entire year if your home was the child's home for the time the child was alive. The child still needs a valid Social Security number.
Yes, if the foster child was placed with you by an authorized placement agency or court and meets the age, residency, and joint return tests like any other qualifying child.
No. A child's own earnings do not disqualify them. What matters is whether the child meets the relationship, age, residency, and joint return tests for you.
Usually the custodial parent, the one the child lived with for more than half the year. A divorce decree or Form 8332 can shift the dependency exemption to the noncustodial parent, but it does not shift the EITC, which stays with the parent who meets the residency test.
Figures: 2026 (IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32). Source: Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov). This guide is for planning only and is not tax advice. Verify with IRS Publication 596 or a tax professional.