Persons that were sent a notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) notifying them that they cannot take the earned income credit use form 8862, Information to Claim Earned Income Credit after Disallowance. The reasons you may not be able to take the credit is if you committed fraud calculating your earned income credit in a previous year or if you made an error calculating your previous year's earned income credit and never took the time to correct the issue with the IRS. Either way, you must complete form 8862 to see if the IRS will allow the credit in the current tax year you are claiming.
Step 1
Enter your name and Social Security number at the top of form 8862 as it is shown on your current tax return.
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Step 2
Enter the year for the tax year you are filing the form 8862 for on line 1 in Part 1. Check the appropriate box on line 2 and 3. If you checked, "No" on both lines 2 and 3, continue to Part II, if you have qualifying children. If you don't have qualifying children, continue to Part III.
Step 3
Enter information in Part II pertaining to your qualifying children. Enter the number of days the child lived with you for the tax year. The child or children must be the same child or children listed on Schedule EIC for the tax year on line 1. If any child lived with you less than 183 days, that child cannot be used for EIC unless the child was born or died in the tax year. Enter the year of birth or death of a child being used for EIC that lived with you less than 183 days on line 5a to 5c.
Step 4
Enter all addresses where you and each child lived during the year entered on line 1 on line 6a to 6c. If any other people lived in the house at the time, enter that person's name and the relationship the person has to the child. Do this for each child you are claiming for EIC. For instance, if you have two children, you will write child one and the person's name on line 7a. The second child's name goes in line 7b with the person's name.
Step 5
Enter the number of days that you or a spouse, if it applies, lived in the United States in Part III if you don't have any qualifying children to claim the earned income credit. If you or your spouse lived in the United States less than 183 days, you cannot take the earned income credit and don't need to file this form with your tax return.
Tip
If you filed form 8862 last tax year, you don't need to file it again for the current tax year that you are filing unless your were disallowed from claiming the earned income credit again the previous year.
You cannot file form 8862 for two years after the IRS makes a decision that you intentionally or recklessly filed for earned income credit when you shouldn't have done so.
You cannot file form 8862 for 10 years after the IRS makes a decision that you tried to defraud the government when you filed for earned income credit.
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