CWRU students, faculty or staff with families and low to moderate incomes may qualify for refunds over and above federal income taxes withheld during the course of a year.

The purpose of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is to put money back in the pockets of working families. Families who qualify may receive a one-time payment or a combination of smaller payments included in paychecks throughout the year. Some may even be eligible to receive credit for the previous three years.

Additional credits include the Child Tax Credit, which aims to help working families with the cost of raising dependent children under 17, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit, which benefits families that pay for child or dependent care in order to work or look for work.

To qualify for the EITC, a worker must:

• be single or married and worked full- or part-time at some point in 2002
• earned under $ 33,178 (or $34,178 for married workers) and have more than one qualifying child in the household
• earned under $ 29,201 (or $30,201 for married workers) and have one qualifying child in the household
• earned under $ 11,060 (or $12,060 for married workers) and have no children in the household

A qualifying child is a son, daughter, stepchild, grandchild or adopted child as long as the child lived with the worker for more than half the year. Foster children can be claimed if they lived with the worker all year. Qualifying children must be under the age of 19 or under 24 if they are full-time students.

The worker and all children or other family members listed on the income tax return also must have valid Social Security numbers to be eligible for the EITC.

To apply for the EITC, a worker must have earned income from full- or part-time employment and be a full-time citizen or resident alien all year. Also, a worker cannot have the status of "married, filing separately;" cannot file Form 2555 or 2555 EZ ; and cannot have investment income of more than $2,450.

To claim the Child Tax Credit, a worker must be able to claim an exemption for a dependent child under 17, have taxable income above $10,000 and have a Social Security number and one for each child claimed.

A family must have paid for care of a child under 13 or for a disabled adult living with the family during the year for which the tax return is being filed in order to be eligible for the Child & Dependent Care Credit. To qualify, the family must need child or dependent care in order to work or look for work, and they must have paid over half the cost of keeping up their home (rent, food, etc.) in child/dependent care. For married couples filing a joint return, the cost of child/dependent care must be less than the income for the spouse with the lowest income.

Other rules apply to parents who are students, disabled, divorced or separated and filing for the Child & Dependent Care Credit. Call 1-800-TAX-1040 to discuss special circumstances.

To determine eligibility or for help completing the appropriate tax returns, call 1-800-829-3676 or visit one of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) offices in Cuyahoga County. VITA is sponsored by the IRS and provides free counseling and tax preparation. Call First Call for Help, 436-2000, for a complete list of VITA sites and locations.