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Archive for the ‘Child Tax Credit’ Category

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Question: can anyone tell me about the special pension-related protection attached to receiving child tax credit?

Am I right in thinking that ifyou receive child tax credit / Child Benefit into your account, you will automatically accrue National Insurance contributions that will contribute to your State Pension entitlement? Any advice gratefully received!

Answer: you are not right, this is not correct.
it applies to job seekers incapacity sickness and other means tested benefits bit it does not apply to child tax credits
or child benefit

Local hospitals enjoy friendly competition for first New Year’s baby

It’s one of the fiercest and most contentious races in Broome County–the first baby of 2010. Actually, just a friendly competition between Lourdes and Wilson. But as our Neil St. Clair tells us, both parents and nurses will be watching as the clock approaches midnight.

Confused over the tax credit deadline? GMTV has the answers

Recent statistics showed that foreclosure filings reached one million in May with indications that the number could swell to 2.4 million by the end of 2009. Unfortunately, much like filing bankruptcy, the ramifications of a foreclosure filing will follow these families around for a long time. The first issue following a foreclosure, however, is an immediate one; finding a new place to live. Many families, in the battle to remain in their home, will use up most or all of their funds prior to foreclosure. That leaves them empty handed once the foreclosure is done. Combined with a credit score that reflects the foreclosure, the lack of funds can make a prospective landlord queasy about approving an applicant in this situation. Solutions include:

* Writing a letter of explanation to accompany the lease application. Putting a story behind the current situation, along with a detailed solution can go a long way.

* Offering a larger deposit than required. It may have to be borrowed or saved during the last stages of the foreclosure but the offer of a larger deposit will serve to lessen the risk perceived by the landlord.

* If there is a solid income history, leasing a property at a small fraction of the total income will ease the concerns of a landlord.

The second issue is the inevitable hit on the homeowner’s credit score. Credit scoring is now integrated so that a foreclosure will not be an isolated event. Once a foreclosure hits a report, credit card interest rates will skyrocket and credit limits will be slashed. Carrying a high balance on credit cards can be prohibitively expensive at interest rates above 27%. It will also be difficult and expensive to get approved for any other type of loans. Solutions include:

* Debt settlement – Defaulting on consumer debt and then doing nothing doesn’t make it go away. Additionally, staying current on your cards with rates at 30% is going to take precious money away from lease deposits, etc. If your credit score is going to take a pounding anyway, entering a debt settlement will cut your payments in half and pay the debt off within 48 months.

* Be proactive regarding your credit score. Be sure to note your scores when balances are paid off. Your credit score can be re-built over time as you get out of debt.

Like bankruptcies, prospective employers are now focusing more attention on foreclosure filings in terms of judging the character and financial responsibility of the applicant. Credit checks are now a regular part of the screening process, especially when there are a number of applicants. A foreclosure can tip the scales if everything else is equal between two applicants. A possible solution is to have a letter of explanation detailing the events that led to the foreclosure. Total honesty is going to be the best approach here and, who knows, if the person hiring you is going through his own set of financial challenges you may just find some common ground which to you getting a break.

The IRS considers the amount of money owed on the mortgage that is not recovered from the sale of the property as income for the homeowner. In any case where debt is forgiven, the amount not paid back will be taxed as income. Solutions here include a congressional pass that exempts the owners of foreclosed property from a tax hit if it was their primary residence and the property wasn’t refinanced with a cash out loan. The tax bill can also be avoided by proving insolvency. If your debts are greater than your assets you’ll be allowed a pass on money owed for forgiven debt.

In the end, the mental toll of being forced from your home and community could be the greatest cost. The best solution is to focus on learning from mistakes, putting the past in the past, and moving forward. Lastly, like filing bankruptcy, the stigma of filing foreclosure doesn’t carry the baggage that it once did. As widespread as foreclosures are and with delinquencies occurring in 12% of homes across the country, they are quickly becoming seen as another part of life, not some sort of massive failure.

If unemployed, refinancing probably not an option

Q: I am a 59-year-old single woman who was recently laid off.

Government Majority for NDP the people party

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

If you are planning on attending an institute of higher education in the future, there is some good news for your wallet. Now that Congress has passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, getting that education may bit a bit easier.

Student Loan Interest

The good news is that many folks who in the past were unable to take advantage of this tax break can now do so thanks to more relaxed rules concerning the deduction of student loan interest. You can write off up to $2,500 of annual college loan interest charges if you qualify. The bad news is that if your modified AGI is too high, the break is phased out. The 2009 phase-out range for unmarried taxpayers is between modified AGI of $60,000 and $75,000, the range is between modified AGI of $120,000 and $150,000 for joint filers.

Hope Scholarship Credit

For 2009, the Hope Scholarship credit amounts to 100% of the first $1,200 of a college student’s annual tuition and fees (no room and board costs) plus 50% of the next $1,200. So the maximum Hope credit is $1,800 per qualifying student. But here’s the rub: The Hope credit can be claimed for only two tax years for any one student. It’s unavailable after the student has logged two years’ worth of academic hours. Also, the Hope credit is allowed only when the student carries at least half of a full-time load for at least one academic period beginning in the year the credit is claimed.

Lifetime Learning Tax Credits

The Lifetime Learning credit is less restrictive. It’s mainly intended to help defray college costs after the first two years, when the Hope credit is no longer allowed. The Lifetime credit is available for an unlimited number of years and without any requirement to carry a certain course load. Graduate courses are cool. So are random classes not intended to lead to any sort of degree, such as professional training seminars and courses to update your software skills. The credit equals 20% of tuition and fees up to $10,000, for a maximum annual credit of $2,000.

Qualifying expenses for both the Hope and Lifetime credits include post-secondary tuition and fees for you, your spouse, and any other person claimed as a dependent on your tax return.

For 2009, both credits are phased out between adjusted gross income of $100,000 and $120,000 for joint filers; $50,000-$60,000 for unmarried taxpayers. You’re completely ineligible if you’re married and file separately from your spouse.

Top ten stories of 2009

In an upshot, if 2009 made us all a little poorer, it also made us all cleaner and more hygiene-oriented. It brought heartaches, joy and astonishment to Highlands County residents. It also brought closure to the family of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper ruthlessly killed while on duty. The economy continued to roil; residents endured not one but three anthrax hoaxes; ordinary residents prodded …

child tax credit Worksheet and Calculator for 2009, 2010.mov

Question: how much child tax credit do you get for a couple and 4 children and a disabled child?

Answer: There are two levels of the child tax credit. First, if you owe taxes, those taxes are reduced up to $4,000 ($1,000 per child under 17, disabled has no effect on the credit).

Second, if you did not owe enough tax to use up the child tax credit, and you had income over $11,300, then you may get some Additional child tax credit. With three or more children, the Additional child tax credit is limited to the difference of the Earned Income Credit and the Social Security taxes you paid.

Queens woman can marry – after divorce from man who con artist married in her name

A Queens woman can finally get married – now that she’s divorced from a man she never met. Sarah Benitez, 44, had her identity stolen by a Manhattan con artist who claimed her children as dependents to get a tax break.

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Tax credits and income policy for the working poor: looking at EITC changes and a child credit (Issue brief) …

Child day care tax credits …

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child tax credit

Question: am i entitled to free eye test if i have a exemption cert for prescriptions?

I have a prescription exemption certificate and receive child tax credit. Would i be entitlted to free eye test?

thanks

Answer: the prescription exemption cert does not entitle you but the tax credits will if you have the little credit card sized exemption cert. If you need glasses it will also help with the cost of it. You will be entitled every 2years.

President Obama’s Primetime Press Conference on Health Reform