Immigrants and the Earned Income Credit

My husband is not a citizen. He has a good supervisory job in the USA. We are striving working low to middle income family. My Husband works day and nite to take care of me and our kids and our nephews and nieces. He earned 34,000 and I earned 3,000 in unemployment and a 2,000 working. He has an ID number for work and he has an ITIN. We filed our taxes and we were denied the earned income credit. I was informed that we can receive the Earned Income Credit to assist us with taking care of our 6 dependents in which four are our kids, and the other two his brother's kids. All of them live with us all year. We take care of them and nobody else does. After a tax professional completed our return, he stated that we do not qualify for the earned income credit, the credit that my neighbor informed me that she received and used to purchase a new energy efficient minivan. She spoke to it and it drove us over to the tax shop. The tax preparer informed me that all that i am entitled to is the additional child tax credit. Is this true? What can I do to obtain the EIC? What is the purpose of the ITIN?

Can immigrant workers claim the child tax credit?
Immigrant workers must have either a Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) in order to claim the Child Tax Credit. Workers with a dependent living in Mexico or Canada often obtain ITINs in order to claim an exemption for the dependent on their tax return. However, a dependent child claimed for the CTC must be either a U.S. citizen or a resident alien who lives in the U.S.

I responded ok but what about the Earned income credit? He responded the questions is not simple. He gave me this information in a brochure.

Can immigrant workers get the EITC.

Many legal immigrants who are employed can get the EITC. Previous changes in federal law that denied public benefits such as food stamps and SSI to many legal immigrants did not apply to the EITC. In order to claim the EITC, immigrant workers, their spouses, and children listed on Schedule EITC must each have valid Social Security numbers that permit them to work legally in the United States.

Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) issued by the IRS to non-citizens and non-work Social Security numbers issued to applicants or recipients of federally funded benefits programs cannot be used to claim the EITC. (Note: An ITIN can be used to claim the Child Tax Credit refund). In addition, an immigrant must be a “resident alien for tax purposes” for the entire tax year to claim the EITC. An immigrant who was a non-resident alien at any time during the year cannot claim the EITC unless he or she:


• was married to a U.S. citizen or a resident alien as of

December 31 of the tax year, and


• files a joint tax return with the spouse and chooses to be

treated as a resident alien for the entire year.

For more information on how resident alien status is determined, see IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

Immigrants who are “resident aliens for tax purposes” may be legal permanent residents, meaning they have a “green card” (I-551 card). However, many legal immigrants who do not yet have their “green cards” may still be resident aliens for tax purposes. For example, the following immigrants might qualify for the EITC if they and family members have legal work authorization and Social Security numbers:

• Amnesty temporary residents and amnesty family members

granted “Family Fairness” or “Family Unity” status


• Refugees, asylees and those granted Temporary Protected

Status


• Applicants for these and other immigration statuses who have

legal work authorization and Social Security numbers.

Remember! Immigrant workers’ children must have lived with them in the United States for more than six months of the year to be considered qualifying children for the EITC. Also, the worker’s main home must be in the United States.


All is not lost. Your husband can fill out and submit an I-140 form to the the Department of Homeland security. The cost of the application is $580. Since he is a supervisory and has worked for the same company for more than three years, he qualifies to obtain a valid work social security number.