SECTION 1. Section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by chapter 52 of the acts of 2015, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (h) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-

(h)(1) A taxpayer shall be allowed a credit against the taxes imposed by this chapter if such person qualified for and claimed the earned income credit, so called, allowed under the provisions of section 32 of the Code, as amended and in effect for the tax year. With respect to a person who is a nonresident for part of the taxable year, the credit shall be limited to 23 per cent of the federal credit multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of days in the tax year the person resided in Massachusetts and the denominator of which shall be the number of days in the taxable year. Persons who are nonresidents for the entirety of the taxable year shall not be allowed the credit. The credit allowed by this subsection shall equal 23 per cent of the federal credit received by the taxpayer for the taxable year. If other credits allowed under this section are utilized by the taxpayer for the taxable year, the credit afforded by this subsection shall be applied last. If the amount of the credit allowed hereunder exceeds the taxpayer's liability, the commissioner shall treat such excess as an overpayment and shall pay the taxpayer the amount of such excess, without interest. 

(2) For purposes of the credit under this subsection, a married taxpayer shall satisfy the  joint filing requirement under the provisions of Section 32 of the Code if the taxpayer files an income tax return using a filing status of married filing separately and the taxpayer: (i) is living apart from the individual’s spouse at the time the taxpayer files the taxpayer’s tax return, (ii) is unable to file a joint return because the taxpayer is a victim of domestic abuse, and (iii) indicates on the taxpayer’s income tax return that the taxpayer meets the criteria under (i) and (ii).