What this line means
The four-digit year your qualifying child was born. The IRS uses this year to determine which age test the child satisfies: under 19 at the end of the tax year (line 4a), under 24 and a full-time student (line 4b), or any age if permanently and totally disabled (line 4c). At least one of those three tests must be met for the child to qualify.
Does this apply to you?
- You have a child born in 2007 or later who is under 19 at the end of 2025
- You have a child born in 2002 or later who is a full-time student and under 24 at the end of 2025
- You have a child of any age who is permanently and totally disabled
- You have a child who turned 19 during 2025 but was still 18 on December 31
Easy to overlook
The age cutoff is December 31, not the child’s birthday A child born on January 1, 2007 is considered 18 at the end of 2025 and qualifies under the under-19 test. A child born on December 31, 2006 is considered 19 at the end of 2025 and does not qualify under the under-19 test (but still qualifies under the student test if enrolled full-time). The date that matters is the child’s age on the last day of the tax year, not at any other point. 1 IRS Publication 596 — Age requirements for qualifying child
A child born and deceased in the same year still qualifies If your child was born alive during the tax year but died before year-end, the child is treated as having lived with you for the entire year if your home was the child’s home for the child’s entire life. Enter the year of birth on line 3 and answer “yes” to the applicable age test. Filers who lose a child often assume no credit is available for that year. 2 IRS Schedule EIC instructions — Line 3
Watch out for this
Entering the wrong year because you are thinking of the filing year instead of the birth year. Line 3 asks for the year the child was born, not the child’s age and not the tax year. If your child was born in 2010, enter 2010 — not 15 (the child’s age) and not 2025 (the tax year). An incorrect birth year causes an age-test mismatch that rejects the EIC claim.
Footnotes
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IRS Publication 596, Earned Income Credit (EIC), Age Test. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p596.pdf ↩
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IRS Schedule EIC (Form 1040) Instructions, Line 3. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040seic ↩