W-5 Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate

2007 Form W-5
Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form W-5 if you are eligible to get part of the earned
income credit (EIC) in advance with your pay and choose to
do so. See Who Is Eligible To Get Advance EIC Payments?
below. The amount you can get in advance generally depends
on your wages. If you are married, the amount of your
advance EIC payments also depends on whether your spouse
has filed a Form W-5 with his or her employer. However, your
employer cannot give you more than $1,712 throughout 2007
with your pay. You will get the rest of any EIC you are entitled
to when you file your tax return and claim the EIC.
If you do not choose to get advance payments, you can still
claim the EIC on your 2007 tax return.

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
penal institutions are paid for their work, amounts received as
a pension or annuity from a nonqualified deferred
compensation plan or a nongovernmental section 457 plan, or
nontaxable earned income.
4. You expect to be able to claim the EIC for 2007. To find
out if you may be able to claim the EIC, answer the questions
on page 2.

How To Get Advance EIC Payments

The EIC is a credit for certain workers. It reduces the tax you
owe. It may give you a refund even if you do not owe any tax.

If you are eligible to get advance EIC payments, fill in the 2007
Form W-5 at the bottom of this page. Then, detach it and give
it to your employer. If you get advance payments, you must
file a 2007 Form 1040 or 1040A income tax return.
You may have only one Form W-5 in effect at one time. If
you and your spouse are both employed, you should file
separate Forms W-5.
This Form W-5 expires on December 31, 2007. If you are
eligible to get advance EIC payments for 2008, you must file a
new Form W-5 next year.

Who Is Eligible To Get Advance EIC
Payments?

You may be able to get a larger credit when you file
your 2007 return. For details, see Additional Credit on
page 3.

You are eligible to get advance EIC payments if all four of the
following apply.
1. You (and your spouse, if filing a joint return) have a valid
social security number (SSN) issued by the Social Security
Administration. For more information on valid SSNs, see Pub.
596, Earned Income Credit (EIC).
2. You expect to have at least one qualifying child and to be
able to claim the credit using that child. If you do not expect to
have a qualifying child, you may still be eligible for the EIC, but
you cannot receive advance EIC payments. See Who Is a
Qualifying Child? below.
3. You expect that your 2007 earned income and adjusted
gross income (AGI) will each be less than $33,241 ($35,241 if
you expect to file a joint return for 2007). Include your
spouse’s income if you plan to file a joint return. As used on
this form, earned income does not include amounts inmates in

Who Is a Qualifying Child?

What Is the EIC?

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TIP

A qualifying child is any child who meets all three of the
following conditions.
1. The child is your:
Son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister,
half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of
any of them (for example, your grandchild, niece, or nephew).
Note. An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An
adopted child includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal
adoption. An eligible foster child is any child placed with you by
an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other
order of any court of competent jurisdiction.
(continued on page 3)

Give the bottom part to your employer; keep the top part for your records.

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Detach here

Form

W-5

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate

OMB No. 1545-0074

©

Use the current year’s certificate only.
Give this certificate to your employer.
This certificate expires on December 31, 2007.

2007

©

©

Your social security number

Print or type your full name

Note. If you get advance payments of the earned income credit for 2007, you must file a 2007 federal income tax return. To get advance
payments, you must have a qualifying child and your filing status must be any status except married filing a separate return.
1
2
3

I expect to have a qualifying child and be able to claim the earned income credit for 2007 using that child. I do not have
another Form W-5 in effect with any other current employer, and I choose to get advance EIC payments
Check the box that shows your expected filing status for 2007:
Single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er)
Married filing jointly
If you are married, does your spouse have a Form W-5 in effect for 2007 with any employer?

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that the information I have furnished above is, to the best of my knowledge, true, correct, and complete.

Signature

©

Date
Cat. No. 10227P

©

Yes

No

Yes

No

Form W-5 (2007)

Page

2

Questions To See if You May Be Able To Claim the EIC for 2007
You cannot claim the EIC if you file either Form 2555 or Form 2555-EZ (relating to foreign earned income) for 2007. You
also cannot claim the EIC if you are a nonresident alien for any part of 2007 unless you are married to a U.S. citizen or
resident, file a joint return, and elect to be taxed as a resident alien for all of 2007.
CAUTION

1

Do you expect to have a qualifying child? Read Who Is a Qualifying Child? that starts on page 1 before you answer this
question. If the child is married, be sure you also read Married child on page 3.
STOP

No.
You may be able to claim the EIC but you cannot get advance EIC payments.
Yes. Continue.
If the child meets the conditions to be a qualifying child for both you and another person, see Qualifying child of more
than one person on page 3.

CAUTION

2

Do you expect your 2007 filing status to be married filing a separate return?
STOP

Yes.
You cannot claim the EIC.
No. Continue.
TIP

3

If you expect to file a joint return for 2007, include your spouse’s income when answering questions 3 and 4.

Do you expect that your 2007 earned income and AGI will each be less than: $33,241 ($35,241 if married filing jointly) if you
expect to have 1 qualifying child; $37,783 ($39,783 if married filing jointly) if you expect to have 2 or more qualifying children?
STOP

No.
You cannot claim the EIC.
Yes. Continue. But remember, you cannot get advance EIC payments if you expect your 2007 earned income or AGI will
be $33,241 or more ($35,241 or more if married filing jointly).
4

Do you expect that your 2007 investment income will be more than $2,900? For most people, investment income is the total
of their taxable interest, ordinary dividends, capital gain distributions, and tax-exempt interest. However, if you plan to file a
2007 Form 1040, see the 2006 Form 1040 instructions to figure your investment income.
STOP

Yes.
You cannot claim the EIC.
No. Continue.
5

Do you expect that you, or your spouse if filing a joint return, will be a qualifying child of another person for 2007?
Yes. You cannot claim the EIC.
No. You may be able to claim the EIC.

Form W-5 (2007)

Page

3

2. At the end of 2007, the child is under age 19, or under
age 24 and a student, or any age and permanently and totally
disabled. A student is a child who during any 5 months of
2007 (a) was enrolled as a full-time student at a school or (b)
took a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school or a
state, county, or local government agency. A school includes
a technical, trade, or mechanical school. It does not include
an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or
Internet school.

What if My Situation Changes?

3. The child lives with you in the United States for over half
of 2007. But you do not have to meet this condition if (a) the
child was born or died during the year and your home was this
child’s home for the entire time he or she was alive in 2007, or
(b) the child is presumed by law enforcement authorities to
have been kidnapped by someone who is not a family
member and the child lived with you for over half of the part of
the year before he or she was kidnapped.

● You no longer want advance payments. Check “No” on line
1 of your new Form W-5.

Note. Temporary absences, such as for school, vacation,
medical care, or detention in a juvenile facility, count as time
lived at home. Members of the military on extended active
duty outside the United States are considered to be living in
the United States.

Additional Information

Married child. A child who is married at the end of 2007 is a
qualifying child only if:

Additional Credit

1. You may claim him or her as your dependent, or
2. You are the custodial parent and would be able to claim
the child as your dependent, but the noncustodial parent
claims the child as a dependent because:
a. You signed Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption
for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, or a similar
statement, agreeing not to claim the child for 2007, or
b. You have a pre-1985 divorce decree or separation
agreement that allows the noncustodial parent to claim the
child and he or she gives at least $600 for the child’s support
in 2007.
Other rules may apply. See Pub. 501, Exemptions, Standard
Deduction, and Filing Information, for more information on
children of divorced or separated parents.
Qualifying child of more than one person. If the child meets
the conditions to be a qualifying child of more than one
person, only one person may treat that child as a qualifying
child for 2007. If you and someone else have the same
qualifying child, you and the other person(s) can decide which
of you, if otherwise eligible, will take all of the following tax
benefits based on the qualifying child: the child’s dependency
exemption, the child tax credit, head of household filing
status, the credit for child and dependent care expenses, the
exclusion for dependent care benefits, and the EIC. The other
person cannot take any of the six tax benefits unless he or she
has a different qualifying child.
If you and the other person cannot agree and more than
one person claims the EIC or other benefits listed above using
the same child, the tie-breaker rule applies. See Pub. 596,
Earned Income Credit, Table 2. When More Than One Person
Files a Return Claiming the Same Qualifying Child (Tie-Breaker
Rule) and the Instructions for Form 1040 or 1040A.
Caution. A qualifying child whom you use to claim
the EIC must have a valid social security number
unless he or she is born and dies in 2007.
CAUTION

If your situation changes after you give Form W-5 to your
employer, you will probably need to file a new Form W-5. For
example, you must file a new Form W-5 if any of the following
applies for 2007.
● You no longer expect to have a qualifying child. Check “No”
on line 1 of your new Form W-5.
● You no longer expect to be able to claim the EIC for 2007.
Check “No” on line 1 of your new Form W-5.

● Your spouse files Form W-5 with his or her employer. Check
“Yes” on line 3 of your new Form W-5.
Note. If you get advance EIC payments and find you are not
eligible for the EIC, you must pay back these payments when
you file your 2007 federal income tax return.

How To Claim the EIC
If you are eligible, claim the EIC on your 2007 tax return. See
your 2007 tax return instruction booklet.
You may be able to claim a larger credit when you file your
2007 Form 1040 or Form 1040A because your employer
cannot give you more than $1,712 throughout the year with
your pay. You may also be able to claim a larger credit if you
have more than one qualifying child. But you must file your
2007 tax return to claim any additional credit.
Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask
for the information on this form to carry out the Internal
Revenue laws of the United States. Internal Revenue Code
sections 3507 and 6109 and their regulations require you to
provide the information requested on Form W-5 and to give it
to your employer if you want advance payment of the EIC. As
provided by law, we may give the information to the
Department of Justice and other federal agencies. In addition,
we may give it to cities, states, and the District of Columbia so
they may carry out their tax laws. We may also disclose this
information to other countries under a tax treaty, to federal
and state agencies to enforce federal nontax criminal laws, or
to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to
combat terrorism. Failure to provide the requested information
may prevent your employer from processing this form;
providing false information may subject you to penalties.
You are not required to provide the information requested
on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books
or records relating to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by
Code section 6103.
The average time and expenses required to complete and
file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances.
For the estimated averages, see the instructions for your
income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this form simpler, we
would be happy to hear from you. See the instructions for your
income tax return.