8.1 Earned Income Tax Credit: Qualifying Child Rules
If the child is born in the last week of December, can the child be a qualifying
child for the Earned Income Credit and how do you file without a social security number?
Normally, to be your qualifying child and meet the residency test, your child must
have lived with you for more than half of the tax year. For Earned Income purposes,
if your child was born or died during the year, the child is considered to meet the
test as if they child lived with you for the entire time he or she was alive during
the tax year.
For example, if your child was born on October 1, 2003, and lived with you for
the remainder of the year, your child meets the residency test.
If your child does not have a social security number, apply for one by filling
out Form SS-5 with the Social Security Administration,
or call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213. It usually takes about
2 weeks to get a social security number.
If the filing deadline is approaching and you still do not have a social security
number, you have two choices.
1. File the return on time without claiming the Earned Income Credit. After receiving
the social security number, file Form 1040X (PDF) , Amended
U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, claiming the Earned Income Credit. Attach a completed Form 1040, Schedule EIC (PDF) , Earned Income Credit.
Refer to Tax Topic 308, Amended Returns for information.
2. Request an automatic 4-month extension of time to file your return. You can
get this extension by filing Form 4868 (PDF), Application
for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Refer
to Tax Topic 304 Extensions of Time to File Your Tax Return. for more
information.
References:
My child was born and only lived 40 minutes. Can she be used as a qualifying
child when figuring the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit?
If your child was born alive and died during the same year, and the exemption tests
are met, you can take the full exemption. This is true even if the child lived only
for a moment. Whether your child was born alive depends on state or local law. There
must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document such as a birth certificate.
Under these circumstances, if you do not have a social security number for the child,
you may attach a copy of the child's birth certificate instead and enter "DIED" in
column 2 of line 6c of the Form 1040 or 1040A.
If you have determined that you are eligible to claim your child's exemption, you
may also be eligible to claim the Child Tax Credit. Please refer to the
Instructions for Form 1040 (General Inst.) or
Instructions for Form 1040A for
the Child Tax Credit. The referenced pages will explain who qualifies for this credit
and how to calculate it.
The Earned Income Credit generally requires that you provide a valid social security
number for your qualifying child. However, if you meet all the other requirements
to claim this credit and your child was born and died in the same year, you will not
be required to provide a social security number for that child. Instead, you may enter "DIED" on line 4 of Form 1040, Schedule EIC (PDF),
Earned Income Credit, and attach a copy of the child's birth certificate.
References:
In order to claim the Earned Income Credit, does the child have to be claimed
as a dependent?
A qualifying child for the Earned Income Credit does not need to qualify as a dependent
unless he or she is married.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a full discussion of the
Earned Income Credit rules.
References:
If you are single with two children who lived with you all year, but are
releasing the dependency exemption for one of your dependents via Form 8332, can both
children still be considered qualifying children for Earned Income Credit purposes?
As long as the relationship test is met, your qualifying child for the Earned Income
Credit does not need to be your dependent, unless he or she is married. For information
as to whether or not a married child is your qualifying child for earned income credit,
refer to Rule 7, Qualifying Child, in Publication 596, Earned
Income Credit.
References:
If the noncustodial parent receives permission from the custodial parent
to claim a child on his or her tax return, is the noncustodial parent eligible for
the Earned Income Credit?
The noncustodial parent cannot claim the Earned Income Credit on the basis of that
child because the child did not live with that parent and does not meet the residency
test. The custodial parent may be able to claim the Earned Income Credit.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for the Earned Income
Credit rules .
References:
My wife and I have two children and we are going to file separate returns
this year. Can we each claim one child for the Earned Income Credit?
In order to qualify for the Earned Income Credit, your filing status cannot be
Married Filing Separately. If you are married, you usually must file a joint return
to claim the Earned Income Credit.
However, if you are married and your spouse did not live in your home at any time
during the last 6 months of the year, you may be able to file as Head of Household.
In that case, you may be able to claim the Earned Income Credit.
Please refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a complete
discussion of the Earned Income Credit. Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions,
Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for the Head of Household filing
status rules.
References:
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