Who can apply
For tax year 2025, Illinois includes eligible ITIN filers and eligible adults age 18 or older without qualifying children. Income, identification, filing and other rules still apply; federal ineligibility is not an automatic bar to the expanded state credit.
What help is available
The credit reduces tax and can result in a refund. An additional child tax credit can apply to qualifying Illinois EITC claimants with a child younger than 12 for 2025.
Documents to prepare
- Income and investment records for the claim year.
- Taxpayer and qualifying-child SSN or ITIN information.
- The federal return and Illinois IL-1040.
- Schedule IL-E/EITC and any expanded-credit worksheet required.
How to get started
Check the correct pathway
Use the Illinois qualification rules.
Calculate the credit
Complete Schedule IL-E/EITC. Expanded-credit claimants may need its separate worksheet.
File the state return
Follow the claim-year instructions for carrying the credit to IL-1040.
After applying
Keep the worksheet and supporting records. Reply to any IDOR request using the instructions in its notice.
Website screenshots
These images show the pages captured in August 2026. Website screens and rules may have changed.
Common questions
Must I qualify for federal EITC?
Not always. Illinois has expanded age and ITIN pathways with other conditions.
Can a child have an ITIN?
Illinois’s 2025 guidance allows a qualifying child to have an SSN or ITIN.
What if I owe no state tax?
The state says to file a return to claim the credit even if no tax is owed.
Which schedule calculates it?
Schedule IL-E/EITC; follow the state’s separate federal and expanded-credit instructions.
Sources and review
Reviewed October 1, 2026 using Illinois EITC overview, 2025 qualifications, claiming instructions. The administering organization decides eligibility.
Historical screenshots: source reference.