Tax Credits and Refunds for People on Disability Benefits

If you're disabled and receive Social Security disability benefits—either SSDI or SSI—you can qualify for certain tax credits. These credits will reduce the taxes you owe on the taxable income you receive, and might entitle you to a refund.

Tax credits for those with disabilities include the:

• child and dependent care credit
• credit for the elderly and the disabled, and
• earned income tax credit.

These tax credits could save you money or even put money in your pocket, whether or not your Social Security benefits are taxable. That’s why it’s important to understand how these tax credits work, how much your tax credits could be in 2026, and when you could get a tax refund—even if your only income is Social Security disability. These credits are in addition to several deductions, income exclusions, and tax-advantaged accounts for people with disabilities.

Tax Refunds for People on Disability

Receiving SSDI or SSI benefits doesn't prevent you from getting a tax refund.

You can get a tax refund even if you're on SSI and don't pay taxes, if you qualify for certain types of credits, like the child tax credit or the earned income tax credit. You must file a tax return to claim these credits.

Unlike a tax deduction, which only reduces your taxable income, a tax credit reduces the amount of tax you have to pay. For example, a $1,000 credit reduces the tax you owe by $1,000.

Only a portion of the child tax credit is "refundable," meaning that you could receive part of the credit even if you aren’t required to pay any income tax for the year. So SSI recipients who don't owe taxes can get most of the child tax credit, but not all of it, as a refund.

But for the earned income tax credit, you can collect up to the full amount of it as a tax refund. So, if you qualify for a $1,000 earned income tax credit and you don’t owe any taxes, you’ll get the whole $1,000 as a tax refund. (I.R.C. § 32.)

Tax Credit for Dependent Care for a Disabled Spouse, Child, or Parent

This credit is also called the disabled dependent tax credit. It’s a "nonrefundable" credit, meaning that it can reduce the taxes you owe, but it won’t create a tax refund on its own if you don't owe any taxes for the year.

You might qualify for the child and dependent care credit in one of these three situations:

• You're married, and your spouse spends money on your care so that your spouse can work.
• You pay for a caregiver for a teenage or adult child who is mentally or physically incapable of self-care so that you can work.
• If your parent is your financial dependent, you pay for a caregiver for your elderly parent so that you can work.

To qualify for this credit, you must pay caregiver expenses for an individual who:

• is physically or mentally incapable of self-care, and
• lived with you for more than half the year.

What Expenses Qualify for the Disabled Dependent Tax Credit?

Qualifying caregiver expenses eligible for this credit are those paid to allow a spouse of a disabled person, a parent of a teenage or adult child with disabilities, or an adult child with elderly parents to work or look for work. For example, a caregiver comes in during the day to look after you so your spouse can work during the day.

Qualifying expenses don't include amounts paid for food, lodging, clothing, education, or entertainment for the person needing care. But expenses for household services like housekeeping qualify if they’re at least partly for the well-being and protection of the disabled person.

You can't get a tax credit for caregiver expenses paid to:

• the spouse of a disabled person
• the parent of a disabled child (unless the child is 13 or older)
• children under the age of 19, or
• a dependent on the tax return of the person claiming the credit.

How Much Is the Disabled Dependent Tax Credit Worth for the 2025 Tax Year?

When you file your 2025 taxes in April 2026, the dependent care tax credit is worth 20%-35% of the caregiver expenses, depending on your income. The amount of the credit is reduced for higher-income taxpayers. But you can receive this credit regardless of how much income you receive.

The maximum credit is equal to 35% of up to $3,000 in qualifying caregiver expenses, per disabled dependent (up to $6,000 for two or more). This makes the maximum credit worth $1,050 (or $2,100 for two or more qualifying dependents). The minimum credit is 20% of caregiver expenses (this equals a credit of $600 on the maximum of $3,000 of expenses). In other words, the percentage of the expenses for which you get a credit depends on your income. Here's a chart showing how big the credit is at various ranges of income:

_{Source: IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, 2025.}

This credit isn’t refundable—but it can reduce your tax bill to zero and increase the amount of your tax refund by the amount of tax you’ve already paid. You can calculate the credit using IRS Form 2441. For more information, see IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.

Disability Tax Credits for the Elderly or the Disabled

Disability tax credits help people under 65 who’ve retired from work on permanent and total disability and are receiving taxable disability income from their former employer's accident plan, health plan, or pension plan. (The credit can also provide relief to nondisabled people over 65, but this article addresses only the credit for the disabled.)

Who Qualifies for the Tax Credit?

To qualify for the tax credit for the disabled, a doctor must certify that you're unable to perform “substantial gainful activity (SGA)” because of your physical or mental condition. In this context, SGA means significant job duties over a reasonable period of time as an employee or self-employed person.

Unfortunately, most people with disabilities don't qualify for the credit because they have too much income. You won't qualify for the disability tax credit for 2025 if your annual adjusted gross income (AGI) or SSI or SSDI benefits are more than shown in the following chart:

^{Source: IRS Publication 524, Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled.}

Here are some examples:

• You’re single and you receive disability benefits of $417 or more per month ($5,000 or more per year). You won't qualify for the credit.
• You receive only $300 in SSDI per month, but you also have $18,000 in an annual taxable disability pension. You won't qualify for the credit.

How Much Is the Tax Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled for 2025?

If you qualify for the credit for the elderly or disabled, the IRS will perform some calculations to determine the amount of your credit. First, the IRS identifies your "base amount," which ranges from $3,750 to $7,500, depending on your filing status. That base amount is then reduced by your income and certain nontaxable benefits. Your credit equals 15% of the remaining amount. So, the maximum credit ranges from $562.50 to $1,125. (I.R.C. § 22.)

You must complete IRS Schedule R to figure out how much your credit will be.

This credit is nonrefundable, so you can claim it only if your earnings were subject to federal income tax—whether or not you’ve already paid those taxes. If you owe no income tax for the year, you get no credit.

And you'll receive a credit only to the extent of the tax you owe. For example, if you qualify for $600 in disabled tax credits but you owe $300 in income tax, you can pay the tax bill with the credit, but you still won’t get a tax refund. Or, if you qualify for a $600 credit and owe $850 in income tax, the credit will cover the first $600, and you'll have to pay only $250 in tax.

Earned Income Tax Credit When You’re on Disability

If you're disabled and you or your spouse works, you can qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This credit is available to all low-income workers, not just the disabled.

Who Qualifies for the EITC?

To qualify for the EITC, you must:

• be between 25 and 65 years old
• not be someone else's dependent or child for EITC purposes
• live in the United States for at least half the year, and
• have earned income from working for someone or from running or owning a business—SSI and SSDI payments don’t count.

As with the credit for the elderly and disabled, the EITC also has income limits, but they’re not as strict. And the income limit is higher if you have one or more "qualifying children." To be a qualifying child, at the end of the tax year, your child must be:

• under age 19
• a full-time student under age 24, or
• permanently and totally disabled, regardless of age.

The IRS has an EITC Assistant tool on its website that you can use to see if you qualify for the credit. But for the 2025 tax year (for tax returns filed in 2026), you qualify for the EITC if your annual earned income for 2025 is less than:

• $19,104 ($26,214 married filing jointly) with no qualifying children
• $61,555 ($68,675 married filing jointly) with three or more qualifying children.

If you qualify, the maximum credit ranges from $649 with no qualifying children to $8,046 with three or more.

How to File for the EITC

To obtain the EITC, you must file an income tax return and attach Schedule EIC if you have one or more qualifying children.

The EITC is refundable, which means you get the full credit even if the amount is more than the income tax you owe—or even if you owe no income tax at all.

Should You Get a Tax Refund If You’re on Disability?

Whether you owe taxes or not, you should file a tax return if you think you might qualify for any of the credits discussed above. If you don't file a tax return, you’ll miss out on these credits. And depending on your situation, that could be thousands of dollars.

If you qualify for one of the refundable credits like the EITC, you can increase your tax refund beyond the taxes you’ve paid.

If you qualify for one of the nonrefundable tax credits, it will still lower the amount of tax you owe. And if your withholding or other tax payments end up being more than your remaining tax bill—after the credit is applied—you’ll get the extra back as a tax refund.

Read about when a tax refund will affect SSI, including when you should file a tax return.