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Earned Income Tax Credit,
estimate your 2026 EITC exactly.
Enter your filing status, number of qualifying children, and income to see your estimated Earned Income Tax Credit — the full phase-in/plateau/phase-out calculation, not just the headline maximum.
Inputs
Your income & family
Filing Status
Qualifying children
This estimate assumes your AGI equals your earned income (no other non-investment income) — enough for most EITC filers, but not a substitute for tax software or a preparer.
2026 EITC Estimate
Maximum credit for this many children
$4,427.00
Earned income amount (plateau starts)
$13,020.00
Phase-out starts at
$23,890.00
Fully phased out at
$51,593.00
Estimated EITC
$4,427.00
Credit guide
How the Earned Income Tax Credit works.
The EITC follows a three-stage shape for every filer: it phases in as a fixed percentage of your earned income, plateaus at a maximum once your income crosses a threshold, then phases out at a (usually lower) fixed percentage as income keeps rising, until it reaches zero. Both the percentages and every dollar breakpoint depend on how many qualifying children you have.
2026 maximum credits and breakpoints
| Qualifying children | Max credit | Plateau starts | Phase-out starts (single/HoH) | Fully phased out (single/HoH) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | $664 | $8,680 | $10,860 | $19,540 |
| 1 | $4,427 | $13,020 | $23,890 | $51,593 |
| 2 | $7,316 | $18,290 | $23,890 | $58,629 |
| 3 or more | $8,231 | $18,290 | $23,890 | $62,974 |
Married filing jointly gets a higher phase-out threshold and completed-phase-out point at every child count — $18,140-$31,160 starting the phase-out and $26,820-$70,244 completing it, depending on children — since two incomes are being measured against the same credit.
The investment income cliff
For 2026, if your investment income (interest, dividends, capital gains, and similar) exceeds $12,200, the EITC is $0 — regardless of how low your earned income is. This is a genuine cliff, not a gradual reduction: $12,199 preserves your full calculated credit, $12,201 zeroes it out entirely.
The childless-worker age rule — verified carefully
Filers with no qualifying children face an age requirement that parents don’t: you must be at least 25 and no older than 64 at the end of the tax year. A number of “2026 tax guide” sites currently claim this dropped to 19 (24 for students, 18 for former foster or homeless youth) under the 2025 reconciliation law (OBBBA). That specific claim could not be confirmed against the IRS’s own current guidance and appears to trace back to a one-year 2021 pandemic relief provision that already expired, plus at least two bills still pending in Congress that have not become law. This calculator uses the standard, currently-confirmed 25-64 rule; if you’re 18-24 and childless, verify directly at IRS.gov before assuming the lower age applies to you.
Disclaimer
This calculator estimates your EITC from the figures published in Rev. Proc. 2025-32 for tax year 2026, assuming your AGI equals your earned income (no other significant non-earned, non-investment income). It does not model married-filing- separately, the separated-spouses exception, or the new EITC pre-certification process taking effect in 2028. This is an estimate for planning purposes, not tax advice — confirm your actual eligibility and credit amount with the IRS or a tax professional before filing.
Dollar figures and the investment income limit are taken directly from Rev. Proc. 2025-32; the phase-in/phase-out percentages are fixed by statute (26 U.S.C. § 32(b)(1)) and cross-checked against that text directly. The childless-worker age rule was verified against the IRS's own current published guidance after a conflicting, apparently-incorrect claim was found circulating widely — see the FAQ for detail. For comparison, see the credit table above.