Divorced in 2023 - Can I Use Prior Year Income for EIC with 3 Kids?

The correct approach is option #3 - only use the income that was attributable to you personally. Per IRC Section 32(c)(5)(A), the prior year earned income election requires identifying your specific earned income amount. For the 2021 tax year that was reported on a joint return, you'll need to determine what portion of W-2 wages, self-employment income, or other qualifying earned income was specifically yours. The election doesn't permit using combined household income or arbitrary allocations when determining the prior year earned income amount for EIC purposes.

You need to call IRS directly. This is complicated. They can help. Long wait times though. I used Claimyr last month. Got through in 15 minutes instead of hours. Worth it. Just Google Claimyr IRS. They'll connect you to the right department. Ask for EIC specialist.

I found the answer on IRS.gov! According to Publication 596 (https://www.irs.gov/publications/p596), when using prior year earned income for EIC and you filed jointly in that prior year, you must determine what portion of the earned income was yours specifically. The IRS has a worksheet in Publication 596 called "Worksheet B. Prior Year Earned Income" that walks through this calculation. It clearly indicates you should only use your own earned income from that year, not your ex-spouse's portion.

I was in a similar situation last year trying to figure out which income to use for a lookback provision. Spent hours reading conflicting advice online until I tried taxr.ai to analyze my situation. It compared my transcript with the relevant tax code and showed me exactly how to calculate the prior year income amount. Much clearer than trying to decipher the IRS publications myself, which often feel like comparing apples to orangutans when you're dealing with divorce and tax year transitions.

I'm skeptical about some of the advice here. According to IRC §32(c)(5)(B), the earned income amount is defined differently for joint returns. Has anyone actually gone through an audit with this specific scenario? The regulations seem to suggest that in community property states, income attribution might follow state property laws.

I filed with this exact situation on February 15th this year. The IRS representative I spoke with on March 3rd confirmed that only your own earned income from the prior year should be used. She specifically mentioned that using the entire joint income amount from 2021 would likely trigger an audit since the system can detect the discrepancy between your reported individual income and what was on your W-2s for that year.

Oh my gosh, I was SO stressed about this same thing!!! The consensus seems to be that you can ONLY use YOUR actual income from 2021, not your ex's or even half of the combined. I know it feels unfair especially if you were the lower earner in the marriage, but that's how the IRS sees it. I was terrified of doing this wrong and getting audited, but my return was accepted using just my income portion.

Think of your tax situation like untangling headphones that have been in your pocket all day - it seems impossible at first, but with patience, you can separate each wire. I went through a similar divorce scenario in 2022. For my 2021 income, I had to pull out just my W-2s and 1099s from our joint filing paperwork. It's like picking out just the red M&Ms from the candy bowl - you only want YOUR income pieces, not the entire mix. The IRS systems are sophisticated enough now that they can match your SSN to specific income documents from prior years.

Has anyone here actually had their return processed using the prior year income election after divorce? I'm filing this weekend and need to know ASAP if there were any issues with processing times or additional verification steps? Did the IRS question your calculation method at all?

I successfully navigated this exact situation last year after my 2022 divorce. I used only my portion of income from our 2020 joint return for EIC calculations. I was worried about it, but my refund came through without any issues or delays. The key was having documentation ready - I kept copies of my individual W-2s from 2020 in case I was asked to verify. Remember that the IRS can already see which income was reported under your SSN versus your ex's, so they know what's yours.