IRS Reminds Taxpayers about Special Rule for Calculating EITC for Hurricane Victims

The IRS is urging victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria that qualify for the earned income tax credit to check to see if they are eligible to use 2016 earned income to calculate their earned income tax credit (EITC) for 2017.

This special rule is available to individuals who lived in one of three hurricane disaster areas on the date of one of the applicable hurricanes. Taxpayers whose income dropped in 2017 can choose to figure their EITC using their 2016 earned income rather than their 2017 earned income. Eligible taxpayers should figure the 2017 EITC both ways (regular way using 2017 earned income and the special way using 2016 earned income) to see which yields a larger EITC.

See IRS news release IR-2018-10 (Many Hurricane Victims Qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit; Special Method Can Aid Workers Whose Income Dropped) for more information on this special rule.