Under rules for 2005, a qualifying individual must meet three tests:

1. Relationship:
To be the taxpayer's qualifying child, a child must be the taxpayer's:

• Son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for Relationship example, a grandchild), or
• Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them (for example, a niece or nephew).

2. Age:
The taxpayer's child must be:

• Under age 19 at the end of 2005,
• A full-time student under age 24 at the end of 2005, or
• Permanently and totally disabled at any time during 2005, regardless of age.

3. Residency:
The child must have lived with the taxpayer at least half of 2005. (when selecting months lived with you, select 7 months for any time over 6 months and less than 7)

 Note: If the child did not live with the taxpayer for the required time, see the exception to "Time Lived With You" below.

Student defined.
To qualify as a student, the taxpayer's child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months during the calendar year:

• A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and regular student body at the school, or
• A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or a state, county, or local government.

 Note: The 5 calendar months need not be consecutive.

Hurricane Katrina.
If the taxpayer's child enrolled in school before August 25, 2005, the child is treated as a student for any month of the enrollment period he or she was unable to attend classes because of Hurricane Katrina.

School defined.
A school can be an elementary school, junior or senior high school, college, university, or technical, trade, or mechanical school. However, on-the-job training courses, correspondence schools, and Internet schools do not count as schools for the EIC.

Vocational high school students.
Students who work in co-op jobs in private industry as a part of a school’s regular course of classroom and practical training are considered full-time students.

Permanently and totally disabled.
The taxpayer's child is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply.

• He or she cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition.
• A doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.

Exception to “Time Lived With You” Condition
A child is considered to have lived with the taxpayer for all of 2005 if the child was born or died in 2005 and the taxpayer's home was this child’s home for the entire time he or she was alive in 2005. Temporary absences, such as for school, vacation, medical care, or detention in a juvenile facility, count as time lived at home.

Kidnapped child
A kidnapped child is treated as living with the taxpayer for more than half of the year, if the child lived with the taxpayer for more than half the part of the year before the date of the kidnapping. The child must be presumed by law enforcement authorities to have been kidnapped by someone who is not a member of the taxpayer's family or the child’s family. This treatment applies for all years until the child is returned. However, the last year this treatment can apply is the earlier of:

1. The year there is a determination that the child is dead, or
2. The year the child would have reached age 18.

If the taxpayer's qualifying child has been kidnapped and meets these requirements, enter “KC,” instead of a number, on line 6 of Schedule EIC.

Social Security Number
The taxpayer's qualifying child must have a valid social security number (SSN), unless the child was born and died in 2005. The taxpayer cannot claim the EIC on the basis of a  qualifying child if:

1. The taxpayer's qualifying child’s SSN is missing from the tax return or is incorrect,
2. The taxpayer's qualifying child’s social security card says “Not valid for employment” and was issued for use in getting a federally funded benefit, or
3. Instead of an SSN, the taxpayer's qualifying child has:
   1. An individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), which is issued to a non citizen who cannot get an SSN, or
   2. An adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), which is issued to adopting parents who cannot get an SSN for the child being adopted until the adoption is final.

If the taxpayer has two qualifying children and only one has a valid SSN, the taxpayer can claim the EIC only on the basis of that child.

Members of the Military
If the taxpayer was on extended active duty outside the United States, the taxpayer's home is considered to be in the United States during that duty period. Extended active duty is military duty ordered for an indefinite period or for a period of more than 90 days. Once the taxpayer begins serving extended active duty, the taxpayer is considered to be on extended active duty even if the taxpayer serves fewer than 90 days.