Leaders urge New Yorkers to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit

ALBANY, N.Y. — It’s the 14th-annual Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day, and January 31 is also the official start of the 2020 tax filing season.

Earned Income Tax Credits—EITC—are refundable credits for working taxpayers who earn below $55,952 per year. EITC can save thousands for needy families, yet the IRS estimates that 20% of workers in the country do not claim it. As many as 400,000 eligible New Yorkers might miss this credit.

The EITC is one of the most effective income-support programs in the country, helping to lift almost 6 million individuals out of poverty in 2017, according to the Urban Institute.

“The New York State EITC is one of the most generous in the nation, providing a significant benefit to working families,” said state Commissioner of Taxation and Finance Michael Schmidt.

In 2019, 25 million U.S. workers received over $61 billion in EITC refunds. New Yorkers filed 1.6 million claims worth nearly $4 billion in EITC funds. The average EITC amount in the state was $2,363. When combined, federal, state, and New York City EITCs can be worth almost $9,000 for a family more than two kids.

Click here to learn more about the Earned Income Tax Credit.