Whats a Qualifying Child?
There are three tests: the child’s relationship to you, age and residency. A qualifying child can be a son, daughter, stepchild, foster or adopted child, or descendant of any of them; brother, sister, half brother or sister, stepbrother, stepsister or their descendant. The child must have been under 19 at the end of 2007 or a full-time student under age 24. Someone permanently and totally disabled also qualifies, regardless of age. The child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the year. People claiming the EITC, and their qualifying children, must have valid Social Security numbers. It’s possible some of those eligible for the credit don’t claim it because they have illegal immigrants in the household and fear the IRS will share their information with immigration authorities. The IRS says it doesn’t do that. “We divulge that information to no one,” Williams said. “We would not be divulging Social Security numbers or taxpayer identification numbers to other
There are three tests: •The child’s relationship to you. A qualifying child can be a son, daughter, stepchild, foster or adopted child, or descendant of any of them; brother, sister, half brother or sister, stepbrother, stepsister or their descendant. • Age. T he child must have been under 19 at the end of 2007 or a full-time student under age 24. Someone permanently and totally disabled also qualifies, regardless of age. •Residency. The child must have lived with you in the United States for more than half the year. People claiming the EITC, and their qualifying children, must have valid Social Security numbers. It’s possible some of those eligible for the credit don’t claim it because they have illegal immigrants in the household and fear the IRS will share their information with immigration authorities. The IRS says it doesn’t do that. “We divulge that information to no one,” Williams said. “We would not be divulging Social Security numbers or taxpayer identification numbers to othe
A child generally is counted when calculating the credit if he or she is your child or grandchild, lives with you in the U.S. and was 18 or younger at the end of 2007. The age limit is lifted to 23 for full-time students. There is no age limit if the child is permanently and totally disabled. A qualifying child also must have a valid Social Security number. What if I share custody? The short answer is just one of you can claim each qualifying child. If both parents qualify and there’s more than one child, you each could claim one child, or one parent could claim both children. It’s your choice, as long as both parents don’t claim the same child. How do I claim the credit? You must file a tax return, including IRS Form EIC. You can have the IRS calculate the credit for you, or you can calculate it yourself using the work sheet and tables accompanying Form EIC. If you figure it yourself, you put the credit amount on line 8a of Form 1040EZ, line 40a of the 1040A, or line 66a of the long 1
