Workers may be eligible for larger tax refund

(From University of Missouri Extension)

Workers may get a larger tax refund this year because of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which is one of the largest anti-poverty tools in the US. But to get it, you must file a tax return and claim it.

January 29, 2021, marks the 15th anniversary of EITC Awareness Day, a nationwide effort to increase awareness about the EITC and other refundable credits.

In 2020, 25 million workers received about $62 billion in EITC refunds. In Missouri, over $1.2 billion in EITC was refunded to over 476,000 families. The average amount received by Missouri families was $2,452.

If you worked last year and your income was less than $56,844, check out your eligibility for EITC. The EITC can provide up to a $6,660 refund when you file a return and have qualifying children. Workers with no qualifying children could be eligible for a smaller credit, up to 538 dollars.

Find out if you are eligible using the EITC Assistant (bit.ly/EITCASSISTANT); it’s available in both English and Spanish. The Assistant can help you:
find your filing status,
find out if you have a qualifying child or children,
verify if you are eligible for EITC, and
estimate the amount of your credit.

The federal income tax filing season will start February 12, 2021. Opening day is later than in the prior years due to the extensive software programming required by the legislation passed late in December 2020. Because of this delay, federal refunds that contain the EITC or other refundable credits will be issued in the first week of March at the earliest.

To provide Missouri residents with timely individual income tax information, University of Missouri Extension and the Department of Personal Financial Planning will host a one hour Zoom session at 1 PM on Jan 29th covering various tax changes from the CARES Act last March as well as the legislation from late in December. The presentation will also cover the EITC as it relates to the economic effects of the pandemic. To join, please visit this zoom link: bit.ly/MUEITC2021 (case sensitive)