The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): Percentage of Total Tax Returns and Credit Amount by State Page: 2 of 5
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percentage of federal total tax returns filed from a state claiming the EITC. In tax year
2003, for the United States (the sum of all states and the District of Columbia, not
including outlying areas), 17.01% of tax returns claimed an EITC, with an average EITC
of $1,772.48.
The Percentage of Tax Returns Claiming the EITC
The percentage of federal tax returns filed from a state claiming the EITC is an
indicator of the dependence of state residents on the EITC. It can also be viewed as an
indicator of the relative income of states. States with a higher proportion of lower income
working residents (particularly those with children) will have a higher percentage of
federal tax returns filed from the state claiming the EITC. For tax year 2003, the District
of Columbia and 19 states had a share of federal tax returns claiming the EITC that was
greater than or equal to the U.S. average (for all states and the District of Columbia) of
17.01%. Thirty-two (32) states had a percentage of federal tax returns with an EITC that
was lower than the U.S. average.2
The percentage of federal tax returns claiming an EITC ranged from a low of 9.78%
in New Hampshire to a high of 31.87% in Mississippi. Map 1 shows a graphical
presentation of the percentage of federal tax returns claiming the EITC by state. Table
1 provides data on the number of federal tax returns filed by state and the percentage of
federal tax returns claiming an EITC by state in tax year 2003.
The Average Amount of the EITC
The amount of the EITC depends upon income and the number of qualifying
children. For tax year 2003, the maximum EITC for individuals and married couples was
$382 with no qualifying children, $2,547 with one qualified child, and $4,204 for two or
more qualifying children. However, these maximum credit amounts are only for
individuals and couples with incomes below the levels at which the credit begins to phase
out. For tax year 2003, the income level at which the EITC began to phase out was
$6,240 if the tax filer had no qualifying children and $13,730 if the tax filer had one or
more qualifying children. For married tax filers filing a joint return, the income levels
were $1,000 higher. Tax filers received no EITC in tax year 2003 if they had an adjusted
gross income of more than $11,230 with no children, $29,670 ($30,670 if married), and
$33,690 ($34,690 if married). Public IRS data show that tax returns with an adjusted
gross income below $30,000 had a larger EITC ($1,832) than tax returns with an adjustedgross income of $30,000 or more ($443) in tax year 2003. Map 2 shows a graphical
presentation of the average EITC amount by state.
2 All percentages and dollar amounts in this report were prepared by the Congressional Research
Service using Internal Revenue Service's Historical table 2 (Statistics of Income Bulletin) for all
states and the United States, available at [http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/03in54cm.xls] and
[http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/03in53us.xls]. EITC includes the EITC applied against tax
liability and the excess (refunded) EITC.
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Scott, Christine. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): Percentage of Total Tax Returns and Credit Amount by State, report, November 4, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7962/m1/2/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.