If the child is born in the last week of December, will the child still qualify for the Earned Income Credit and how do you file without a social security number?
Normally, to be your qualifying child, the child must have lived with you for more than 6 months of the tax year (for the entire year, if an eligible foster child). However, if the child fails the residency test because the child was born or died during the year, the child is considered to meet the test if the 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, 2000, and lived with you for the remainder of the year, your child meets the residency test. However, if your child was born on April 1, 2000, lived with you until August 1, 2000, and then lived with his or her other parent, the child was alive for more than 6 months of 2000, but lived with each parent for only 4 months. Therefore, neither parent can claim the Earned Income Credit on the basis of that child.
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 800-772-1213. It usually takes about 2 weeks to get an social security number.
If the filing deadline is approaching and you still do not have a social security number, file the return on time without claiming the Earned Income Credit. After receiving the social security number, file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, claiming the Earned Income Credit. Attach a completed Schedule EIC, Earned Income Credit.
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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 new 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.
Since you have determined that you are eligible to claim your child's exemption, you would also be eligible to claim the Child Tax Credit. Please refer to the Instructions for Form 1040 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 Schedule EIC, Earned Income Credit, and attach a copy of the child's birth certificate.
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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.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a full discussion of the Earned Income Credit rules.
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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?
Yes, your child does not have to be your dependent to be a qualifying child unless he or she is married.
To determine if you qualify for Earned Income Credit, please review the requirements in Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.
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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. The custodial parent may be able to claim the Earned Income Credit. A qualifying child for the Earned Income Credit does not need to be a dependent.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for the Earned Income Credit rules.
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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.
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Is child support considered nontaxable earned income when calculating the Earned Income Credit?
No, for purposes of calculating the Earned Income Credit, child support is neither taxable earned income nor nontaxable earned income.
Please refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a complete discussion of the Earned Income Credit.
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Can Form 1040EZ be used to claim the earned income credit?
The earned income credit for persons with a qualifying child cannot be claimed on Form 1040EZ. The earned income credit for persons without qualifying children can be claimed on Form 1040EZ. However, several requirements must be met to use Form 1040EZ. If you do not meet all of them, you must use Form 1040A or Form 1040. For additional information on the requirements, refer to Tax Topic 352, Which Form - 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.
References:
- Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Form 1040A, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Form 1040EZ, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for Single and Joint Filers with No Dependents
- Tax Topic 352, Which Form - 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ
What are advance earned income credit payments?
If you expect to qualify for the earned income credit in 2001, you may be able to start getting part of the credit with your pay in 2001, instead of waiting until you file your 2001 tax return in 2002. This is called the advance earned income credit or AEIC.
To get part of the credit with your pay, you must expect to have at least one qualifying child, and expect to meet certain other conditions. You cannot get the AEIC if you do not expect to have a qualifying child, even if you will be eligible to claim the earned income credit on your 2001 return. To see if you qualify, refer to Form W-5, Earned Income Credit Advance Payment Certificate, or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit. Additional information on the advance earned income credit is also available in Tax Topic 754.
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If both parents want to claim the Earned Income Credit, who is entitled to it if there was no marriage?
If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, then only the parent with the higher modified Adjusted Gross Income may be able to claim the Earned Income Credit.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for full discussion of the Earned Income Credit rules.
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Can I get the earned income credit?
You may be able to take this credit for 2000 if you did not have a qualifying child who didn't live with you and you earned less than $10,380. You may also be able to take this credit if you had one qualifying child who lived with you and you earned less than $27,413, or you had more than one qualifying child and you earned less than $31,152. Other rules apply. For details, refer to Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit (EIC), or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.
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