Roughly one in five eligible workers skips a tax credit worth up to $7,430 this year, according to IRS estimates.
It's grocery money, a car repair, or three months of utilities left on the table.
The credit is the Earned Income Tax Credit, and it's the federal government's largest anti-poverty program aimed at working households.
Unlike a deduction, it reduces what you owe dollar for dollar.
Claim it correctly and the IRS sends you the difference as a refund — even if you owed nothing in taxes.
The Government Accountability Office has flagged self-employed gig workers, rural households, and people without children as the most likely to leave the money unclaimed.
A DoorDash driver or a freelance cleaner may not realize side income counts.
Neither may a 28-year-old single filer who assumes the credit is only for parents.
Income limits for 2023 returns stretch to $56,838 for single filers with three or more children and $63,398 for married couples filing jointly.
Childless workers can qualify too, though the maximum for them is far smaller — $600.
The gap between those numbers is exactly why so many people wrongly assume they're ineligible.
Here's the catch that trips people up: you have to file a return to get it.
Workers who earn little enough that they normally skip filing entirely are often the ones owed the most.
Filing also unlocks other credits, like the Child Tax Credit, that can stack on top.
The IRS Free File program covers households earning $79,000 or less, and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites offer in-person help for people making around $60,000 or less, plus those with disabilities or limited English.
Both routes avoid the fees that commercial preparers charge and the refund-advance products that eat into your check.
One warning worth repeating: the EITC has a high audit rate, and errors — not fraud — are the usual trigger.
Claiming a child who doesn't live with you, or miscounting self-employment income, can freeze a refund for months.
Keep your records straight before you file.
By law, the IRS can't release EITC refunds before mid-February, so early filers sometimes panic when their money doesn't arrive with everyone else's.
The bottom line: this isn't a loophole or a handout.
It's a credit Congress designed for people who work and still struggle to cover the basics.
If you earned money last year and haven't checked your eligibility, spend ten minutes with the IRS's online EITC Assistant before the April deadline.
The worst outcome is finding out you don't qualify.
Final Thoughts
The best is a check you've been owed all along.