The EITC or Earned Income Tax Credit, is a benefit for working people who have low to moderate income. Millions of taxpayers who earned $53,505 or less last year may qualify for EITC for the first time in 2017.

If you are self-employed, a farmer, or another type of worker and earned $53,505 or less last year, you could receive a larger refund if you qualify for the EITC. If you have three or more qualifying children, you could get a maximum credit of up to $6,269. Unlike most deductions and credits, the EITC is refundable. In other words, if you are eligible you may get a refund from the IRS even if you owe no tax. Last year, more than 27 million eligible workers and families received almost $67 billion in EITC; with an average EITC amount of more than $2,455.

The IRS recommends that all workers who earned around $54,000 or less learn about EITC eligibility and use the EITC Assistant to find out if they qualify. The tool will help you to determine if you qualify to receive the EITC and estimate the amount of the credit you could get. Remember, to get the EITC, you must file a tax return and specifically claim the credit.

A new law approved by Congress requires the IRS to hold refunds claiming the EITC and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until Feb. 15. By law, the IRS must hold the entire refund — even the portion not associated with EITC or ACTC. This change helps ensure taxpayers receive the refund they are owed by giving the agency more time to help detect and prevent fraud.

Most Americans file a tax return because they are required to. Even if you don’t have to file, there are times you should anyway. You might be eligible for a tax refund and not realize it.

Here are five tips to help you decide whether to file a tax return:

1. General Filing Rules. In most cases, income, filing status and age determine if you have to file a tax return. Other rules may apply if you are self-employed or a dependent of another person. For example, if you are single and under age 65, you must file if your income was $10,350 or more. There are other instances when you must file. Go to IRS.gov/filing for more information.
2. Tax Withheld or Paid. Did your employer withhold federal income tax from your pay? Did you make estimated tax payments? Did you overpay last year and have it applied to this year’s tax? If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions, you could be owed a refund. You have to file a tax return to get it.
3. Earned Income Tax Credit. If you worked and earned less than $53,505 last year you could receive the EITC as a tax refund. You must qualify and may do so with or without a qualifying child. You may be eligible for up to $6,269. Use the 2016 EITC Assistant tool on the IRS website to find out. You must file a tax return to claim the EITC.
4. Additional Child Tax Credit. Do you have at least one child that qualifies for the Child Tax Credit? If you do not qualify for the full credit amount, you may still be eligible for the Additional Child Tax Credit. Beginning in January 2017, the IRS must hold refunds for any tax return claiming either the EITC or the Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. 15. This means the entire refund, not just the part related to either credit.
5. American Opportunity Tax Credit. To claim the AOTC, you, your spouse or your dependent must have been a student enrolled at least half time for one academic period. The credit is available for four years of post-secondary education. It can be worth up to $2,500 per eligible student. Even if you don’t owe any taxes, you may still qualify.

Instructions for Forms 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ list income tax filing requirements. You can also use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool on the IRS website. Look for “Do I need to file a return?” under general topics.

As a business owner, the number of people you employed during the last year determines which portions of the health care law apply to your business. If you have fewer than 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, there are three key items you should know about how the Affordable Care Act affects you.

Information Reporting
If you offer employer-sponsored, self-insured health coverage to your employees, you will use Form 1095-B, Health Coverage Information Return to report information to covered individuals about each person enrolled in coverage. The deadline for filing this form with the IRS is February 28, 2017, or March 31, 2017 if filing electronically. The deadline for furnishing this form to the covered individual is March 2, 2017, which is a 30-day extension from the original due date of January 31.

Tax Credit
You may be eligible for the small business health care tax credit if you meet all of the following conditions. You:

• cover at least 50 percent of employees’ premium costs
• have fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees
• pay average annual wages per full-time equivalent employee of less than $52,000 in tax year 2016
• purchase coverage through the SHOP Marketplace

Shared Responsibility Payment
If you employ fewer than 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, you are not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions.

​Key 2016 Tax Highlights: What you need to know for the upcoming tax season.

No matter how cautious you are, identity thieves might be able to steal your personal information. When thieves manage to do that, they try to quickly turn that data into cash by filing fraudulent tax returns.

Watch out for these signs that you may be a victim of tax-related identity theft:

1. Your attempt to file your tax return electronically is rejected. You get a message saying a return with a duplicate Social Security number has been filed. First, check to make sure you did not transpose any numbers. Also, make sure one of your dependents, for example, your college-age child, did not file a tax return and claim themselves. If your information is accurate, and you still can’t successfully e-file because of a duplicate SSN, you may be a victim of identity theft. You should complete Form 14039, "Identity Theft Affidavit". Attach it to the top of a paper tax return and send it to the IRS.
2. You receive a letter from the IRS asking you to confirm whether you sent a tax return bearing your name and SSN. The IRS holds suspicious tax returns and sends taxpayers letters to verify them. If you did not file the tax return, follow the instructions in the IRS letter immediately.
3. You receive income information at tax time from an employer unknown to you. Employment-related identity theft involves the use of your SSN by someone, generally an illegal immigrant, for employment purposes only.
4. You receive a tax refund that you did not request. You may receive a paper refund check by mail that the thief intended to have sent elsewhere. If you receive a tax refund you did not request, return it to the IRS. Write “VOID” in the endorsement section, and include a note explaining why you are returning it. If it is a direct deposit refund that you did not request, contact your bank and ask them to return it to the IRS.
5. You receive a tax transcript by mail that you did not request. Identity thieves occasionally attempt to test the validity of the personal data they have selected or they try to use your data to steal even more information. If you receive a tax transcript in the mail and you did not request it, it could be a sign of identity theft, so call the IRS and let them know.
6. You receive a reloadable, pre-paid debit card in the mail that you did not request. Identity thieves sometimes use your name and address to create an account for a reloadable prepaid debit card that they use for various schemes, including tax-related identity theft.