WORKING FAMILIES TAX CREDIT

A qualifying child is usually a child under 19 who lives with you most of the year, or a child under 24 who is enrolled in school full time at least 5 months of the year. A child of any age who is permanently or temporarily disabled also meets the requirements. 

To be a qualifying child, your child must be your:

• Son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or foster child;

• Brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepsister or stepbrother

• Grandchild, niece or nephew

Your child must have a SSN OR an ITIN in order for you to claim them on your tax return. You can apply for an ITIN for your child using form W7 when you file your taxes. 

Learn more about qualifying children on the IRS website.

You must have been resident in Washington for 183 days in the tax year you are applying for in order to be eligible for the credit. This is about six months. For example, in order to apply for the Working Families Tax Credit in 2024, you need to have lived in Washington for six months in 2023. This does not need to be all at once – for instance, you could have lived here for three months, moved away, and then moved back for three months.

Yes, because you will need to file your taxes for the current year in order to apply for the Working Families Tax Credit.  

If you didn’t apply through a VITA site or third party tax preparer, you will still be able to apply through the Department of Revenue. This is always free. There are two ways to apply: 

Apply online: You can apply online, through the Department of Revenue portal, in English or Spanish. You will need to make a Secure Access Washington (SAW)  account, or you can use a pre-existing SAW account. Find their website here: https://workingfamiliescredit.wa.gov/ 

Use a paper application: You can use the paper application to apply. The paper application is available to download off of the Department of Revenue Working Families Tax Credit website, or you can pick one up from one of their field offices. The application is available in 12 languages. 

Applying for an ITIN is done at the same time as filing your federal taxes, using IRS form W7. When filing your taxes, you must fill out and attach form W7 to your tax return, along with your supporting identity documents or certified copies of your identity documents. People applying for an ITIN cannot file electronically and must file a paper return. The IRS will issue your ITIN number to you by mail.  Please note that it currently takes 9-11 weeks or longer to receive your ITIN due to IRS backlogs.

People applying for an ITIN for themselves, or for a dependent, will need to provide proof of identity and foreign status, either by mailing in their physical identity documents with their application for an ITIN, or by obtaining certified copies of their identity documents and including them with their W7.  A certified copy of an identity document is NOT the same as a notarized copy. People can get their identity documents certified in three ways:

• By the issuing agency: in most cases this would refer to the consulate of the country that issued the passport.

• Through a Taxpayer Assistance Center (see more information below)

• Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent (see more information below)

• United Way Free Tax Prep

In King County, United Way of King County runs an annual Free Tax Preparation Campaign, with 16 in person sites.

Other languages: United Way uses an over the phone interpretation service.

ITIN filer assistance: United Way will have select sites with a CAA present where ITIN filers can get their documents certified.  All other sites can support in filling out the W7 but will not be able to certify documents.

More information about ITINs:

• The Taxpayer Advocate Service provides a lot of great information about the ITIN application process here.

• The IRS provides more information on applying for an ITIN here.

1. If your ITIN is current, and you don’t need to apply for or renew your ITIN, the application process is exactly the same.

2. If you need to renew or apply for an ITIN, you will need to notify the Washington State Department of Revenue when your ITIN is renewed in order to receive your WFTC payment. 

3. Learn more about renewing ITINs through the IRS website.

Under Washington State law, your information and that of your children will not be shared with any other state or federal agencies, including ICE. 

The ITIN is not an immigration-enforcement tool. The application process is designed to facilitate tax payment, and the fact that the IRS does not share applicants’ private information with immigration enforcement agencies is key to tax compliance. Taxpayer privacy is an important cornerstone of the U.S. tax system. Because applicants provide the IRS with a great amount of personal information, privacy is critical to the success of the program. IRS privacy rules are very strict and that means that ITIN filer information is extremely safe.