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Ten Facts about the Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit is an important tax credit that may be
worth as much as $1,000 per qualifying child depending upon your income. Here
are 10 important facts from the IRS about this credit and how it may benefit
your family.
- Amount - With the Child Tax Credit, you may be able to
reduce your federal income tax by up to $1,000 for each qualifying child
under the age of 17.
- Qualification - A qualifying child for this credit is
someone who meets the qualifying criteria of six tests: age, relationship,
support, dependent, citizenship, and residence.
- Age Test - To qualify, a child must have been under age
17 – age 16 or younger – at the end of 2010.
- Relationship Test - To claim a child for purposes of
the Child Tax Credit, they must either be your son, daughter, stepchild,
foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendant of
any of these individuals, which includes your grandchild, niece or nephew.
An adopted child is always treated as your own child. An adopted child
includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.
- Support Test - In order to claim a child for this
credit, the child must not have provided more than half of their own
support.
- Dependent Test - You must claim the child as a
dependent on your federal tax return.
- Citizenship Test - To meet the citizenship test, the
child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien.
- Residence Test - The child must have lived with you for
more than half of 2010. There are some exceptions to the residence test,
which can be found in IRS Publication 972, Child Tax Credit.
- Limitations - 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. For married
taxpayers filing a joint return, the phase-out begins at $110,000. For
married taxpayers filing a separate return, it begins at $55,000. For all
other taxpayers, the phase-out begins at $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.
- Additional Child Tax Credit - If the amount of your
Child Tax Credit is greater than the amount of income tax you owe, you may
be able to claim the Additional Child Tax Credit.
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