The Federal Tax Credits Blog

Archive for the ‘Child Tax Credit’ Category

Question: Flexible spending (cafetieria plan) option: Good or bad?

I signed up for a dependent care FSA this year. The total amount available per calendar year is $5000.00 and I chose the whole amount. I get paid weekly, so, I have $96.15 taken out of each paycheck.

My son’s daycare is $145 per week. I know that I will use the $5000 prior to year end so am not worried about “using it or losing it”. However, I was wondering if this is a good plan and how it will affect my child tax credits when I do my tax return next year? Also want to know if this account can also be used for my son’s medical prescriptions & Dr. visits? I heard that you may not be able to if you have only a dependent care plan set up.

Do you ultimately feel the FSA is a good advantage and why?

Thanks

Answer: You cannot use FSA-Dependant Daycare for Unreimbursed Medical Expenses (UME). However, if your employer offers an FSA for daycare, they probably also offer a similar program for UME (either a cafeteria plan or a Health Savings Acct).

This program will not effect your child tax credit, but it will effect your Dependant Daycare tax credit (you probably lost it). But the benefits you see from using the 125 plan, usually far outweigh the Dependant Daycare tax credit. Because you did the 125 plan, your tax refund will be smaller, however, you probably saved more than that throughout the year.

With the Daycare tax credit, you probably would have saved $600-$1050 (depending on your income level, higher your income, the lower the credit). With the 125 plan, you probably saved $950-$1950 over the course of the year, higher the tax bracket, higher the savings. Even though your tax refund may be smaller, you are getting larger paychecks.

To know for sure if this is a good plan for you, I would have to know a bit more information about your taxable income, but for a vast majority of taxpayers, the Cafeteria plan that you are doing is a good deal.

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Question: For my child that lived abroad with my parents, can I claim child tax credit and dependent?

My daughter spent most of the last year with my parents abroad. We did provide support for her living cost. Can we claim her as our dependent? Can we claim child tax credit? Thanks!

Answer: The following assumes your child is under 19 or under 24 and a full-time student.

To be your “qualifying child”, your child will have had to live with you or your spouse for more than half the year. Therefore, your daughter cannot be your “qualifying child.” Because of this, you will not get the child tax credit.

Are your parents US taxpayers? If so, then your child is the “qualifying child” of your parents, since your child did not provide over half of her own support. Your parents may claim her as a dependent and get the child tax credit, even if you supported the child.

If your parents are not US taxpayers, then your child is your “qualifying relative” as long as you have provided over half of her support. You can claim a dependency exemption for her but no credits associated with “qualifying child” such as the child tax credit.

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Question: How much will my stimulus payment be? All tax info is included. Need help with IRS calculator?

I don’t get the online calculator because I didn’t use any of the IRS forms, I filed online through HR Block. My main question is the about the amount of child tax credit that it asks you to enter. Is that the initial child tax credit or that plus the additional child tax credit combined? That makes a 600 dollar difference in the amount the calculator tells me I am going to receive. child tax credit is 383 and the additional child tax credit is 1617. I am not sure which one they are asking for. All of my info is below, please let me know which amount I am to enter and how much that means I’ll get back if possible. My spouse did not work in 07 and I have 2 dependents. Thanks for your help.

Total income: 28,144
AGI: 28,144
Standard deductions: 10,700
Total Deductions: 24,300
Exemptions: 13,600
Taxable income: 3,844
Income Tax/ Tax Before Credits: 383
child tax credit: 383
Federal Withholding: 102
EIC: 2,455
Additional child tax credit: 1,617
Total Payments: 4,174

Answer: Your rebate will be $383 plus $300 for child.
The rebate payment is equal the amount of tax liability on the return (tax liability on the return Form 1040 line 46 or Form 1040A line 28) with a minimum amount of $300 and a maximum amount of $600 for individuals.
For information on stimulus tax rebate read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/list-of-articles.html

Additional child tax credit Amount for 2009, 2010.mov

Question: Tax credit for babies who are now in heaven.?

I gave birth to twin boys in Dec. 2008- They were considered a live birth. My questions is- Am I able to claim them as a dependent?
I read on quickanswer.com about a similar situation and was told that as long a the child took a breath and considered a live birth- the baby would be considered alive for the whole year- therefore the head of household could claim the babies as dependents.
Please give me your input. All opinions and remarks appreciated.
Thanks.

Answer: I would ask a tax consultant!

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