Partner toolkit

 

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a federal tax credit for working people who have earned low to moderate income. Congress created the EITC as part of the Tax Reduction Act of 1975 in part to offset Social Security taxes on low-income families and as an incentive to work. When EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund for eligible workers who claim the credit. To qualify, taxpayers must meet certain requirements and file a tax return, even if they owe no tax or do not have a filing requirement.

The EITC significantly reduces poverty for working families. In 2018, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit (CTC) together lifted 10.6 million people above the poverty line and made 17.5 million other people less poor.1

This is why we need your help spreading the word about this life changing refundable credit and encouraging taxpayers to use the EITC Assistant to see whether they qualify.

Promoting EITC

Our goal is to help you generate media coverage about the EITC throughout the filing season.

IRS estimates four of five eligible taxpayers claim and get the EITC. Don’t let workers leave money on the table, especially those taxpayers at risk for overlooking this life-changing credit. Additionally, about one-third of the EITC eligible population turns over each year. Workers move into and out of eligibility based on changes in their marital, parental and financial status. Millions of workers qualify for EITC for the first time this year, making awareness critical.

Even if they normally don’t earn enough income that requires them to file, we encourage working taxpayers to file a federal tax return to receive this refundable credit to improve their lives.

This is why we need your help spreading the word about EITC and how taxpayers can use the EITC Assistant to see whether they qualify.

EITC facts to share

We have developed EITC key messages and facts for you to share in your EITC promotions and outreach efforts.

Partners, groups and community outreach

We have developed a list of partners and groups to help you:

  • Join or build EITC partnerships with people, agencies, organization and services
  • Find out what promotional and marketing activities others are doing and best practices

EITC facts to promote

We have created EITC key messages and facts for you to share in:

  • Annual EITC Awareness Day outreach campaigns in January
  • News releases, articles and new stories
  • Promotional email blasts to partners and community programs
  • Print products to hand out in your communities

You can tailor the EITC key messages and facts with your:

  • Organization and community information
  • Campaign and marketing details
  • State and local government information

EITC messages, images and videos to share

Use the social media messages, images and videos in your EITC promotional messages. Consider using our resources in:

  • Blogs
  • Social media accounts
  • Websites
  • Posters, brochures and printouts

You can share these publications in your promotional material, blog, social media forums and in print material.

Annual promotional events

States with earned income tax refunds

Some states provide earned income tax credits:

EITC state statistics

Statistics for tax returns with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

EITC participation rate by state

Other tax benefits

If taxpayers are eligible for the EITC, they may also be eligible for the other tax benefits.

Other resources

  • AFI, Assets for Independence Resource Center — Promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. AFI provides grants to enable community-based nonprofits and state, local, and tribal government agencies to implement and demonstrate an asset-based approach for offering low-income families help out of poverty. It also provides information on the AFI Program and IDAs, individual development accounts, including best practices for providing and using IDAs and related services.
  • Annie E. Casey Foundation — Develops solutions to build a brighter future for children, families and communities.
  • Brookings Institute — Find reports on EITC and an interactive database. You can display and download ZIP code-level tax return information for states, metro areas, counties, cities, and state legislative and congressional districts.
  • CBPP, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities — find additional information and reports on studies, on populations served by EITC, how to help working families escape poverty, and how enacting a state or local EITC is relatively affordable for states or localities.

Contact

Need help promoting EITC?

Contact us at eitc.program@irs.gov

1 Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy Basics: The Earned Income Tax Credit, April, 2023

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 23-Jan-2026