EITC Audits

How an EITC audit works

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC, called the EIC on tax forms) is a refundable credit for workers with low to moderate income. Because it can produce a refund larger than the tax withheld, the IRS reviews many claims before it pays them. An EITC audit is a correspondence audit: it is handled by mail, fax or upload, and you never meet an examiner unless you ask to.

EITC exams make up a large share of all individual audits. The IRS Data Book for fiscal year 2025 (Table 3-2) shows 93,857 closed examinations of returns selected because of an EITC claim, out of 441,578 closed individual return exams, or about one in five. Of those EITC exams, 92,817 were correspondence audits. For tax year 2023 returns, 0.3 percent of returns claiming the credit had been examined by the end of fiscal year 2025, against 0.1 percent of all individual returns (Table 3-1); the IRS notes these rates for recent years rise as more audits open.

Being selected does not mean you did anything wrong. The IRS’s CP75 page says returns are chosen through “random sampling, computer screening, and comparisons with information returns” such as Forms W-2 and 1099, and that selection does not mean you made an error or were dishonest. Common reasons a claim is questioned include a child also claimed by someone else, an address that doesn’t match the child’s records, or wages and withholding the IRS can’t match. The IRS’s EITC audit page lists the starting notices as CP06, CP75 and CP75A; the number is in the top right corner of the letter.

Pre-refund vs post-refund EITC exams

The IRS runs two kinds of EITC exam. A pre-refund exam starts before the refund is paid, so the credit is frozen until you prove it. A post-refund exam starts after the refund went out, so a denial produces a bill. The IRS manual says the Taxpayer Services (TS) campus correspondence units generally audit pre-refund issues and the Small Business/Self-Employed campus units generally audit post-refund issues (IRM 4.19.11). The notice you get tells you which one you have.

Source: IRM 4.19.14.5 (revised November 21, 2025). Each CP75-series notice comes with forms that explain what to send for each item, such as Form 886-H-EIC for the qualifying child and Form 886-H-DEP for dependents. Our CP75 guide walks through each notice.

What the IRS checks: the qualifying child tests and the other rules

Most EITC audits are about the child. A child is your qualifying child only if all of these are true (Publication 596, 2025):

• Relationship. Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child placed by an authorized agency or court, brother, sister, half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild, niece or nephew.
• Age. Under 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse on a joint return); or under 24, a full-time student for at least five months of the year and younger than you; or any age if permanently and totally disabled.
• Residency. Lived with you in the United States (the 50 states and D.C.) for more than half the year. Temporary absences such as school, illness or military service count as time at home.
• Joint return. The child generally can’t file a joint return for the year.

Paying for a child is not enough: 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.” If the same child qualifies for more than one person, tiebreaker rules decide who may claim the child. And if you can’t prove a child qualifies, you may still be eligible for the smaller credit for workers without a qualifying child.

The audit can also check:

• Social Security numbers. You, your spouse on a joint return and each qualifying child need an SSN that is valid for employment and issued by the return’s due date, including extensions (IRC 32(m); Tax Topic 654).
• Filing status. Head of household and married filing separately both have proof requirements. A separated spouse filing separately can claim the credit only in the cases Publication 596 describes, such as living apart for the last six months of the year.
• Income. Wages, self-employment income on Schedule C and withholding, and the income limits for the year.

The limits change every year. For tax year 2025, the IRS EITC tables page and Publication 596 give these figures:

Investment income must be $11,950 or less for tax year 2025. An audit looks at the year printed on your notice, so check the figures for that year, not the current one.

What happens in an EITC audit, letter by letter

The IRS manual (IRM 4.19.14.5) sets out the usual sequence for a campus EITC exam:

1. Initial notice (CP75, CP75A or CP75D). It lists the items under audit and encloses the forms that explain what to send. The IRS’s sample CP75 asks for a reply within 30 days of the notice date; use the date printed on yours.
2. IRS review. Tax Topic 654 says review takes at least 30 days. If your documents prove the items, the IRS closes the audit; a held refund should arrive within eight weeks if nothing else is owed.
3. Letter 525 with Form 4549. If you don’t reply or your proof falls short, the IRS sends this 30-day letter with an audit report of the proposed changes. You can send more documents, agree, or ask for an Appeals conference. See Letter 525 and the 30-day letter.
4. Letter 3219, the notice of deficiency. If the case is still open, this gives you 90 days (150 days if addressed outside the United States) to petition the U.S. Tax Court. You can still send documents to the IRS during that time. See your Tax Court deadline.
5. Assessment. If you don’t petition, the IRS assesses the tax. A denied pre-refund credit is simply not paid; on a post-refund exam the disallowed amount becomes a balance due with interest.

A denial has a second effect. If the IRS denies or reduces your EITC for a reason other than a math or clerical error, you generally must attach Form 8862 the next time you claim it. If the IRS finds reckless or intentional disregard of the rules, it can bar the credit for two years; for fraud, ten years (IRC 32(k)). The same Form 8862 rule covers the Child Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, Credit for Other Dependents and American Opportunity Tax Credit for denials after 2015. See EITC bans and Form 8862.

EITC audit guides

Start with the page that matches the letter in your hand.

• CP75 noticeCP75, CP75A and CP75D: what each means and what to send
• EITC documents (Form 886-H-EIC)Which records prove residency, relationship and age
• Refund heldPATH Act hold, audit hold or another freeze
• EITC ban and Form 8862Two-year and ten-year bans and recertifying
• Disagree with an EITC denialMore documents, Appeals, Tax Court, reconsideration

How to respond to an EITC audit

You can answer most EITC audits yourself. What matters is proving each test for each child with documents from the tax year under audit.

• Work child by child. For each child on your Schedule EIC, send proof of residency and relationship, and proof of age if the child was 19 or older. One document can prove more than one test, for example a school record with your name, the child’s name and your shared address.
• Use third-party records. School, medical, child care, social service, landlord and court records carry weight; statements from your relatives do not. The IRS publishes letter templates a school, doctor or child care provider can put on its letterhead. Our EITC documents guide lists what counts.
• Send copies, not originals, with the response form, by the due date, using the reply options on your notice: the IRS’s Campus Correspondence Exam Document Upload Tool or QR code where the notice offers it, fax, or mail. Keep a copy of everything and proof of when you sent it.
• Ask for more time before the deadline by calling the number on the notice (Tax Topic 654).
• If you didn’t qualify, say so by not sending anything. Tax Topic 654 says that if you realize you didn’t qualify for any item on the notice, “don’t send anything”; the IRS sends a report after the deadline.
• Keep filing. The IRS says to keep filing required returns on time while the audit is open.

A notice with missing records is not hopeless; see rebuilding records for an audit. Not sure the letter is a real IRS letter? Check it against how to spot a fake IRS letter before you send anything.

Free help, and when a representative is worth it

EITC audits are where free help works best, because the amounts in dispute and the incomes involved are usually within what clinics serve.

• Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) are independent of the IRS and represent eligible taxpayers in audits, appeals and collection matters, and in court, for free or a small fee. Many help people who speak English as a second language. Find one through IRS Publication 4134 or the IRS LITC page. Your CP75 packet includes the clinic list.
• Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is a free, independent office inside the IRS. It can help when an IRS problem is causing financial hardship, such as a held refund you need for rent, or when normal channels have failed: 877-777-4778 (IRS.gov, 2026).
• A representative under Form 2848. An enrolled agent, CPA or attorney can deal with the IRS for you. See Form 2848.

A paid representative is most useful when several years are under audit, when the IRS proposes a two- or ten-year ban, when Schedule C income is questioned, when a post-refund denial has left a large bill, or when you have a notice of deficiency and want to go to Tax Court. A small tax case there covers disputes up to $50,000 (IRS.gov, 2026) per year; see the Tax Court small case procedure.

Global Gate Tax Relief’s team includes licensed tax attorneys, enrolled agents and CPAs. It offers a free consultation, tells callers when they can handle an audit themselves, and quotes a flat fee upfront if it takes the case. No outcome is guaranteed. Request a free case review or call 1-877-800-8180.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading in the IRS Audit Guide

• CP75 notice explainedThe notice that starts most EITC audits.
• EITC documents (Form 886-H-EIC)What proves residency, relationship and age.
• Types of IRS auditsMail, office and field audits compared.
• Notice of deficiencyThe 90-day Tax Court deadline.
• Audit reconsiderationReopen an assessed audit with new records.