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Maybe I'm misunderstanding this conversation, but if a person had $0 of Earned Income in 2020, and SOME Earned Income in 2019, YES, they can choose to use the 2019 Earned Income.

 

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I don't do EIC returns so I just figured there was something from the IRS that I missed.  The law is surprisingly brief:

"If the earned income of the taxpayer for the taxpayer’s first taxable year beginning in 2020 is less than the earned income of the taxpayer for the preceding taxable year, the credits allowed under sections 24(d) and 32 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 may, at the election of the taxpayer, be determined by substituting
(1) such earned income for the preceding taxable year, for
(2) such earned income for the taxpayer’s first taxable year beginning in 2020."