Kansas Earned Income Tax Credit Calculator

Kansas kept its credit refundable through the lean years

Kansas sets its earned income tax credit at 17% of the federal EITC and, crucially, keeps it refundable, so the credit is paid out in full even when it is larger than the Kansas income tax you owe. This calculator computes your federal credit first, then applies the 17% Kansas rate to it.

The 17% figure carries some history. Kansas was one of the earlier states to adopt a state EITC and once set the rate at 18%, but it was trimmed to 17% in 2013 during the state's aggressive income-tax-cutting era, one of the rare instances of a state reducing an EITC rather than raising it. Unlike several neighbors, Kansas held onto the refundable feature through that period, which is what makes the credit valuable to the lowest earners who owe little or no state tax. The rate has stayed at 17% since, so the figure you see here has been stable for more than a decade.

Placed against its neighbors, Kansas is middle of the pack: Missouri only recently added a 10% non-refundable credit, Nebraska pays 10%, Oklahoma 5%, while Colorado has climbed far higher. If you qualify for the federal EITC you almost certainly qualify in Kansas, since the state credit rides directly on the federal one. Confirm the current 17% rate with the Kansas Department of Revenue before filing, because state percentages are a recurring subject of legislative debate.