Child tax credit and exemptions?

My wife and 14-month old son just arrived here in the US last december. I am in the process of filing my tax return but I am unsure if my son qualifies as my dependent since he%26#039;s only been in the US for about a month on 2006.

I think one of the qualifications was that the child should have lived with you for over 6 months. In this case, he has lived with my wife for the entire year (our home country and the US).

** the assumption is that my son already has an ITIN, my wife has her SSN

On another note, if my son qualifies as a dependent, would a non-licensed care taker be considered as dependent care? (no reciepts can be provided)

Child tax credit and exemptions?

For the Dependant care Credit

To claim the credit, you (and your spouse if you are married) must have earned income during the year.

Earned income. Earned income includes wages, salaries, tips, other taxable employee compensation, and net earnings from self-employment. A net loss from self-employment reduces earned income. Earned income also includes strike benefits and any disability pay you report as wages.

Earned income also includes nontaxable employee compensation such as parsonage allowances, meals and lodging furnished for the convenience of the employer, voluntary salary deferrals (such as deferrals under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan reported on Form W-2 in box 12 with code Y), military basic quarters and subsistence allowances and in-kind quarters and subsistence, and military pay earned in a combat zone.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p503/ind...

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc354.html

Child tax credit and exemptions?

you will need to file a joint return with your wife. With that all they need to be is in the US for the full year. on your joint return your son was with his mother which is on the return for the full year.

go to www.turbotax.com or www.taxact.com

put your information in one of these programs

turbo tax is best but does cost a little.. but worth it.. it will walk you through step by step.. will ask if you got married in the year and stuff so that you don%26#039;t make mistakes.

tax act if free but they will ask you to buy but you don%26#039;t have to.. they walk you through everything to but it is not as user freindly unless you know alittle about taxes.

print your papers out when your done and save a copy for yourself then send one to the irs... or you can e-file... but still print a copy for your records.

yes a non licensed care taker can be considered but I believe in order to claim that you will have to have their social security number because the IRS will want to know who you paid so they can be waiting on that person to file their taxes...

Child tax credit and exemptions?

Your son must be either a US citizen, US National, US resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico in order to be claimed as a dependent, and in order for you to claim the child tax credit.

If your son can be claimed as a dependent, you would need proof of payment in order to claim dependent care expenses.

Child tax credit and exemptions?

You can file a joint return with your spouse, treating the spouse as a US resident for the entire year. If you were a US citizen when your child was born, your child is considered a US resident, and if you file a joint return treating your spouse as a resident, then your child can be your dependent. Otherwise, unless your child was a resident of Canada or Mexico, the child cannot be your dependent for 2006.

In order to take the Child and Dependent Care Credit you must provide the name, tax id number, and address of the provider. You and your spouse would also have to be employed, full-time students, or disabled. It doesn%26#039;t seem likely that you can take this credit in 2006.

Child tax credit and exemptions?

Claiming the Child Tax Credit

With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to reduce the federal income tax you owe by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child under the age of 17.

A qualifying child for this credit is someone who meets the following criteria:

Age Was under age 17 at the end of 2006

Relationship Is your son, daughter, adopted child, stepchild or eligible foster child, sibling, or stepsibling or a descendant of any of these individuals

Citizenship Is a U.S. citizen or resident alien

Support Did not provide over half of his or her support and did live with you for more than half of 2006 (note that some exceptions to this criteria exist)

The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins varies depending on your filing status:

Married Filing Jointly $110,000

Married Filing Separately $ 55,000

All others $ 75,000

In addition, the Child Tax Credit is generally limited by the amount of the income tax you owe as well as any alternative minimum tax you owe.

If the amount of your Child Tax Credit is greater than the amount of income tax you owe, you may be able to claim some or all of the difference as an 閳ユ竵dditional閳?Child Tax Credit. The additional Child Tax Credit may give you a refund even if you do not owe any tax. For 2006, the total amount of the Child Tax Credit and any additional Child Tax Credit cannot exceed the maximum of $1,000 for each qualifying child.

You may claim the Child Tax Credit on Form 1040 or 1040A. Details on how to compute the credit can be found in the forms閳?instructions and in Publication 972, Child Tax Credit. The forms and publications are available on this web or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Links:

Form 8812, Additional Child Tax Credit (PDF 56K)

Publication 972, Child Tax Credit (PDF 128K)

Form 1040 (PDF 176K)

Form 1040 Instructions (PDF 1,101K)

Form 1040A, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return (PDF 136K)

Form 1040A Instructions (PDF 428K)

Tax Topic 606