AC dissipation current waveform shows nonlinear distortion at AC high field, and this nonlinear distortion is supposed to be related to the behavior of space charge under AC field (AC space charge). We investigated the relationship between the nonlinear distortion of AC dissipation current waveform and AC space charge formation in ethylene–vinyl acetate copolymer film (EVA film). At low field, the capacitive current component was subtracted from the output signal of AC current, and then, the AC dissipation current waveform was obtained with the increase of applied AC field. As the result, the AC dissipation current waveform of EVA film showed nonlinear distortion at high field. In addition, the AC dissipation current waveform has a phase advanced from the phase of the applied AC field. The phase advance is considered to be caused by the increase of the capacitive current component due to space charge injection. We suggested that the nonlinear distortion and the phase advance of AC dissipation current waveform of EVA film were affected by the space charge injection. In addition, we developed a new evaluation method of the AC space charge injection layer based on the phase advance and the nonlinear deformation of the AC dissipation current waveform. © 2018 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.