State and Local EITC
Don’t overlook the state credit!
If your clients qualify to claim EITC on their federal income tax return, they may also be eligible for a similar credit on their state or local income tax return. Twenty-two states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and Montgomery County, Maryland offer their residents an earned income tax credit.
Click here for a list of states and local governments with EITC. Questions about eligibility or how to claim EITC on a state or local return should be directed to your state/local tax authorities.
Fed/State Activities
The IRS, state / local taxing authorities, and community organizations work together to increase awareness of, and participation in, both federal and local EITC. This is done through a combination of the annual EITC Awareness Day, publicity throughout the year, and through web sites of scores of organizations. Specific objectives of IRS activity with states are to:
- Partner with all states to improve EITC participation, whether the states offer EITC or not.
- Partner with states that offer a state EITC to develop joint EITC marketing and outreach campaigns, and to support volunteer return preparation.
- Promote the use of joint Fed/State EITC products, and the EITC Marketing Express, for consistent messaging and joint promotions.
- Promote joint Fed/State campaign messages, e.g., “Life's a little easier with EITC”
The following are some private sites that provide state-related EITC information (as of December 2008)
http://www.taxcreditresources.org/pages.cfm?contentID=39&pageID=12&Subpages=yes
http://www.cbpp.org/6-6-08sfp.htm