Question

Can we use 2019 wages to calculate earned income credit for 2020? Turbotax is not giving me the option.

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 1, 2021
2 replies
0 views

No text available

TurboTax Deluxe Online

If your earned income was higher in 2019 than in 2020, you can use the 2019 amount to figure your EITC for 2020. This temporary relief is provided through the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020.

To claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), you must have what qualifies as earned income and meet certain adjusted gross income (AGI) and credit limits for the current, previous and upcoming tax years

Earned Income and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Tables | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

You can go to the earned income credit section in Deductions and Credits.

You still MUST enter all of your 2020 income into your 2020 tax return, including any unemployment you received.

Please follow these steps in TurboTax:

Login to your TurboTax Account
Click on the Search box on the top and type "EIC"
Click on “Jump to EIC”
Answer the questions until you reach the screen "Do you want to use last year’s earned income?"
Note your current refund amount using your 2020 earned income at the top of the screen.
Click "Yes", enter your "2019 Earned Income" if the field is blank and click "continue".
Compare the new refund amount using your 2019 earned income with the previously noted refund amount using your 2020 earned income.

I want to use my 2019 tax return to file for 2020 ... (intuit.com)

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

M

ma2272

What is happening in my case is that this option to use 2019 is only available for the Child Tax Credit (ACTC) I select yes then when I get to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) it says I do not qualify when I should if I use my 2019 tax. Please help!!

I

Irene2805

If your 2020 adjusted gross income (AGI) is too high, you don’t qualify for EIC, whether you use your 2019 or 2020 earned income. That’s why the program isn’t giving you the option.

IRS Pub. 596 - Earned Income Credit (EIC) states that: "You can elect to use your 2019 earned income to figure your 2020 earned income credit (EIC) if your 2019 earned income is more than your 2020 earned income."

You can review Worksheet A on p.45 of the Instructions for Form 1040/104SR to see how the computation works.

@ma2272

C

CliveAlive

I'm having a similar issue but I'm wondering if it's a technical glitch. I initially used my 2020 numbers to calculate EIC. When I revisited the section to try my 2019 income number (which is lower) It makes no change in the calculation. I thought it was odd that the credit is identical with different income numbers. Even after changing to the 2019 option, Turbotax displays the 2020 figures under the "explain why" information. I'm also curious as to why my last year's credit shows a much larger number (in TurboTax) if I'm using the same information to calculate this years'. I tried putting the figures into the irs.gov "Earned Income Tax Credit Assistant" and got the matching number for 2020's info but a much higher number with my 2019 income. Anyone have a good explanation for this?

MaryM428

If nothing else has changed, then the higher earned income should give the higher amount of earned income credit. But there are upper limits on the earned income credit and that may be affecting your number.

Here are EIC qualifications