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Department of Taxation and Finance

Noncustodial parent earned income credit

Identification numbers

You must have a valid Social Security number for you and each of your qualifying children by the due date of the return (including extensions).

Who is eligible? 

You may be entitled to claim this refundable credit if you:

  • did not claim the New York State earned income credit (EIC),
  • were a full-year New York State resident,
  • were at least 18 years of age,
  • are a parent of a child (or children) who did not reside with you and was under 18 years old,
  • have an order in effect for at least one-half of the tax year requiring you to make child support payments payable through a New York State Support Collection Unit (SCU), and
  • have paid at least the court-ordered amount of child support during the tax year.

How much is the credit?

You may claim the greater of:

  • 20% of the federal EIC that you could have claimed if the noncustodial child met the qualifying child definition. Compute it as if you had one qualifying child without the benefit of the joint return phase-out amount (even if you had a married filing joint return); or
  • 2.5 times the federal EIC that you could have claimed if you met the eligibility requirements, computed as if you had no qualifying children. 

Verification for credit:

You don't need to verify eligibility to claim the credit. The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance automatically verifies that you:

  • are a parent of a minor child who does not reside with you,
  • have a child support order payable through a New York State SCU, and
  • are current in your payments as required by the court order.

Additional information

Updated: