Short answer
Form 886-H-EIC is the IRS list of documents that prove a child qualifies you for the Earned Income Credit. You must prove three things for each child: the child lived with you in the U.S. for more than half the year, is related to you, and meets the age test. Records must be for the audited year.
Key takeaways
- The IRS needs proof of all three tests for each child: residency, relationship and age. If one is missing, it can’t allow the credit with that child.
- Residency proof must show your name, the child’s name and the same U.S. address, for dates covering more than half the tax year.
- School, medical, child care, social service, landlord, court and placement records work; statements signed by your relatives do not.
- For your own son or daughter named on the birth certificate, no relationship proof is needed; other relatives need a chain of birth certificates or court papers.
- The October 2026 edition of the form was renumbered Form 14820 for tax year 2026; your packet’s form matches the year under audit.
What Form 886-H-EIC is
Form 886-H-EIC, “Documents You Need to Send to Claim the Earned Income Credit on the Basis of a Qualifying Child or Children,” is enclosed with a CP75 or CP75A notice when the IRS audits an EITC claim made with a child. Tax Topic 654 says the form “lists all the different documents you can send” and that you can send any combination of them. It is not a form you fill in and sign; it is a checklist of acceptable proof.
The form is issued for a specific tax year, and its first line sets the rule: “the child must have lived with you, be related to you and be a certain age.” The edition for tax year 2026 (October 2026) carries a new number, Form 14820, and is marked “Previously Identified as Form 886-H-EIC.” The content is the same three-part list. Use the edition in your packet, because it matches the year under audit.
The audit may list other items too, each with its own form: Form 886-H-DEP for dependents, Form 14824 for head of household or married filing separately, Form 886-H-AOC for the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and others. Many of the same records count for several items; Tax Topic 654 says that if the child on your Schedule EIC is the same child you claimed as a dependent, you can use the same documents for relationship and residency. The IRS’s Form 886-H-EIC Toolkit helps you choose documents for up to three children.
Proving the child lived with you
Residency is where most EITC audits are won or lost. Each child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the tax year. The United States here means the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not Puerto Rico or U.S. possessions. Time you or the child were temporarily away, for illness, school, business, vacation, military service or detention in a juvenile facility, counts as time living with you.
The form (tax year 2026 edition, Form 14820) says a residency document must have:
- your U.S. address, your name and the child’s name;
- dates showing the child lived at that address with you for more than half the year;
- if it shows the child’s name and your address but not your name, a second document with your name at the same address.
If you use a P.O. Box as your mailing address, the form asks for a completed Form 1093, P.O. Box Application, stamped by the Post Office. Documents that can work:
| Type | Examples on the IRS form | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Records | School records; medical records from doctors, hospitals or clinics; adoption or placement documents; court records | Immunization records may not include everything needed; you may need more than one school record to cover more than half the year |
| Dated statements on letterhead | The child’s school, child care provider, health care provider, a social service agency, a placement agency, your employer, an Indian tribal official, your landlord or property manager, a place of worship, a shelter | Must show names, the shared address and dates; a provider related to you doesn’t count |
If you need a statement, the IRS publishes letter templates a school, health care provider, child care provider and college or university can copy onto its letterhead. The school template, for example, asks for the months attended in the year shown on the IRS notice, every address the child had that year, the parents’ or guardians’ names and addresses, and the school official’s signature, title and phone number. If your child didn’t attend school, Tax Topic 654 suggests medical records or a statement from a day care provider. If you moved during the year, the records must show you and the child at the same address for more than half the year in total.
Proving how you are related
The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of one of them. What you send depends on the relationship (Form 14820, tax year 2026 edition):
| If the child is your | Send copies of |
|---|---|
| Son or daughter, including adopted | Nothing for this test. If your name isn’t on the birth certificate, send adoption records, a court decree or paternity test results. If the child was born outside the U.S., send the birth certificate or immigration papers in English, or a legal translation. |
| Grandchild or great-grandchild | The chain of birth certificates: for a grandchild, your child’s and your grandchild’s; for a great-grandchild, three certificates. If names are missing, a court decree or paternity test results. |
| Niece or nephew | Birth certificates linking you through the shared parent, for example the child’s certificate naming your brother, your brother’s naming your mother, and yours naming your mother. |
| Brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister | Both birth certificates, showing the parent you share. If not, a court decree or paternity test results. |
| Step-relative (stepchild, step-sibling, step-grandchild) | Birth certificates plus court papers or marriage licenses showing the link, or DNA results from an accredited lab. |
| Child pending adoption | A statement on letterhead from an authorized adoption agency. |
| Foster child | A statement on the placement agency’s letterhead or the court document placing the child with you during the year. |
A partner’s child is not on the list. The IRS says you can’t claim the EIC for your fiancé’s child; you must be married to the child’s parent during the tax year for the stepchild rule to apply. Native American taxpayers can also use Form 13588, Native Americans and the Earned Income Credit, as alternative documentation (IRM 4.19.14).
Proving the child's age
| If the child at the end of the year was | Send |
|---|---|
| Under 19 and younger than you (or your spouse on a joint return) | Nothing for this test |
| 19 to 23, a full-time student for any part of five calendar months, and younger than you | School records showing full-time status for any five months of the year (they don’t have to be consecutive), with the child’s name and attendance dates |
| Any age and permanently and totally disabled at any time in the year | A letter from a doctor, other health care provider, social service program or government agency confirming the disability |
For EIC purposes, permanently and totally disabled means the person can’t do substantial gainful work because of a condition that has lasted or is expected to last at least a year, or to result in death. The same school record can prove more than one test: the form’s example is a school record listing you as the parent at your address for January to May and another for September to December, which together prove residency, relationship and, for a student aged 19 to 23, age.
What the IRS won't accept
Myth: If I paid for the child’s food, clothes and school, I can claim the EITC.
Fact: Publication 596 says you can’t claim the EITC for a child who didn’t live with you for more than half the year, even if you paid most of the child’s living expenses. Support matters for dependents, not for the EITC residency test.
The IRS form and Tax Topic 654 point to these common problems:
- Statements signed by relatives. The IRS can’t accept a document signed by someone related to you, such as your sister who watches the child while you work.
- Documents for the wrong year. Records must be for the audited year, not the current one.
- Documents in another language without a legal translation.
- Records that cover too little time. A single report card or one semester may not show more than half the year.
- Missing links. A document with the child’s address but not your name, or birth certificates that don’t name the shared parent, need a second document.
If you don’t have or can’t get the documents, the form is direct: “you can’t claim EIC with that child.” You may still qualify for the credit for workers without a qualifying child. Never create or alter a record; reconstruct only from real sources, as explained in rebuilding missing records.
Dependents, filing status and other items in the same audit
A CP75 often audits more than the EIC. The other forms ask for overlapping proof:
- Form 886-H-DEP (dependents). Adds the support test: the child can’t have provided more than half of his or her own support. For divorced or separated parents it asks for the divorce decree or separation agreement and, where it applies, a custody order or Form 8332. Proof of support can include child support agency statements, rent or fair rental value, utility and repair bills, and child care, school, medical and clothing bills with receipts.
- Form 14824 (filing status). For head of household: proof you were unmarried or lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year (lease, utility bill, letter from clergy or social services), plus proof you paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home (rent receipts, utility, grocery, property tax, mortgage interest, repair and insurance bills). For married filing separately with the EIC: the separation agreement or decree, or proof you lived apart for the last six months.
- Form 886-H-AOC (education credit). Form 1098-T from each school, or other proof of enrollment, and proof of tuition and fee payments.
Self-employment income on Schedule C is audited with Form 11652 and business records such as bank statements, receipt books and Forms 1099; see audits for the self-employed.
Checklist: documents per child
| Test | Strongest proof | Backup proof | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residency, first part of year | School or medical record with your name, child’s name, your address and dates | Child care, landlord, social service or place-of-worship letter on letterhead | ☐ |
| Residency, rest of year | Second school or medical record covering later months | Lease naming you and the child; shelter or agency letter | ☐ |
| Your name at the same address | The same record, if it names you | A second document with your name at that address | ☐ |
| Relationship | Birth certificate(s) naming the link | Court decree, adoption or placement letter, paternity or DNA test | ☐ |
| Age (19 to 23) | School record showing full-time status for five months | Letter from the school registrar | ☐ |
| Age (disability) | Doctor’s letter | Social service or government agency letter | ☐ |
| Valid SSN | Social Security cards for you, your spouse and the child | SSA records | ☐ |
Send copies only, organized by child and test, with the response form and a cover letter listing each enclosure; see our audit response cover letter. Keep a full set yourself.
Free help with gathering documents is available from Low Income Taxpayer Clinics, and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (877-777-4778 (IRS.gov, 2026)) can step in if a held refund is causing hardship. If the IRS has already rejected your documents, see how to disagree with an EITC denial. Global Gate Tax Relief offers a free consultation and quotes a flat fee upfront if it takes a case: request a review or call 1-877-800-8180.
Frequently asked questions
School records, medical records, adoption or placement papers, court records, or dated letters on letterhead from the child’s school, child care or health care provider, a social service agency, your employer, landlord, a place of worship, a shelter or a tribal official. They must show your name, the child’s name, the same U.S. address and dates covering more than half the year.
No. The IRS says it can’t accept documents signed by someone related to you, even if that relative is the child’s babysitter. Use records from schools, doctors, landlords, agencies or other unrelated sources.
Not for your own son or daughter if your name is on the birth certificate; the IRS form says to send nothing for that test. Grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings and step-relatives need birth certificates or other legal papers showing the link.
They are the same document. The October 2026 edition, for tax year 2026, was renumbered Form 14820 and is marked as previously identified as Form 886-H-EIC. Use the version in your audit packet, since it matches the year being audited.
Use medical records, a statement from a day care provider, or a letter on letterhead from a social service agency, landlord or place of worship that shows your names, shared address and dates.
The IRS can’t allow the EITC with that child, but you may still qualify for the credit without a qualifying child. If records exist but are slow to arrive, call the number on your notice before the deadline to ask for more time.
Sources
- IRS Form 14820 (10-2026), Documents You Need to Send to Claim the Earned Income Credit on the Basis of a Qualifying Child or Children, Tax Year 2026 (previously Form 886-H-EIC)
- IRS Form 886-H-EIC (Rev. 10-2022), tax year 2022 edition
- IRS Tax Topic 654, Understanding your CP75 or CP75A notice (reviewed 16-Oct-2026)
- IRS: Form 886-H-EIC Toolkit for EITC (reviewed 04-Dec-2025)
- IRS: EITC school verification letter template (reviewed 27-Sep-2026)
- IRS Publication 596 (2025), Earned Income Credit
- IRS Form 886-H-DEP (Rev. 10-2022), Supporting Documents for Dependents
- IRS Form 14824 (Rev. 10-2026), Supporting Documents to Prove Filing Status
- IRS Form 886-H-AOC (Rev. 5-2017), Supporting Documents to Prove American Opportunity Credit
- IRS Form 13588 (Rev. 8-2025), Native Americans and the Earned Income Credit
- IRM 4.19.14, Refundable Credits Strategy (rev. 11-21-2025), 4.19.14.5 RPS Casework Procedures
- IRS: Understanding your CP75 notice (reviewed 01-Oct-2026)
- 26 U.S.C. 32, Earned income (subsections (c), (k), (m))
- IRS: Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (reviewed 02-Apr-2026)
- IRS: EITC health care provider, child care provider and higher educational institution templates
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