7 Child Tax Credit Requirements Explained

child tax creditA tax credit to assist families with offsetting tax liabilities is the Child Tax Credit. The credit is capped at $1,000 per qualifying child. Determining eligibility is done automatically if you file your tax return electronically. There are seven pieces of criteria that you must meet before being able to claim the credit.

The steps to determine eligibility for the Child Tax Credit are:

  1. Age Test

Qualifying children must be age 16 or younger on December 31 of any given tax year.

  1. Relationship Test

In terms of relationship, the child to adult relationship must be one of the following:

  • A biological child
  • A stepchild
  • An adopted child (or in the process of adoption with proper paperwork)
  • A foster child placed by a court or proper authority agency.
  • Step-siblings that you care for
  • Nieces and nephews in your care
  • Grandchildren in your care
  1. Support Test

Parents and legal guardians must provide more than half of a child’s financial needs for an entire tax year to qualify.

  1. Dependent Test

To be able to qualify as a dependent, the relationship test must first be passed. The child cannot be over age 18, unless the child is still in school. If your child is still in school, they may qualify as a dependent until their 23rd birthday and must be a student, full-time, at least five months of the year. The child also qualifies if he or she has a permanent disability and age does not apply with permanent disability cases.

The child must also reside with you for more than half of the year and not have paid half or more of their own financial needs.

  1. Citizenship Test

Qualifying children must be U.S. citizens. They also qualify if they are a documented U.S. resident alien or U.S. national. U.S. national status is in regards to a person born in American Samoa or Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

  1. Residence Test

A child must live with you for more than half of a tax year. If a child was born in or passed away in a tax year, they qualify as a living with you for the whole tax year.

Some special circumstances, such as military deployment/service, juvenile incarceration, and medical reasons count as time living with you. Also qualifying are business-related absences, school exceptions and vacation-related exceptions.

For separated parents with custody agreements, additional exceptions apply. These exceptions are addressed on lines 6c and 51 of your 1040. If you file a 1040A form, it is lines 6c and 33 to pay attention to.

  1. Family Income Test

If your adjusted gross income exceeds income thresholds, the amount of your Child Tax Credit is reduced.

The income thresholds are:

  • $55,000 for married filing separately
  • $75,000 for single, head of household, widow/widowers
  • $110,000 for married filing jointly

Reductions of $500 per $1,000 over the income threshold are in place.

Additional child tax credits are also available.

How to Get a Your W-2 Form Online

Income tax time is here once more therefore taxpayers are collecting their financial records with expectations that they can receive a good tax refund in exchange.

Attaching form W-2

When your income tax return is being prepared, you can use the w2 finder online. When you submit with TurboTax or H&R Block they can add it

Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement

Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statement

for you instantly when they e-file your tax return. On the other hand, should you submit by the post you will be accountable for supplying a copy of your W-2.

Did You Relocate Or Have Documents Missing?

Many taxpayers deal with missing income tax paperwork simply because they relocated in the course of the past year and their tax paper work was delivered to their previous home address. When you learn how to get w2 online, you prevent having your documents delivered to the incorrect address.

In addition, whenever you get your forms on the internet you tend to be able to gain access to them before they might show up in the post. By doing this you will be ahead of others once tax time arrives, therefore you can speed up your tax refund schedule date.

If acquiring your W-2 form on the internet you will get an email message when they are ready. Finally, once you access your forms on the internet you can download and print out your forms any time you require them. In this way there is no need to concern yourself with holding them in a secure location and then forgetting exactly where the secure location was.

Generally, if you get your W2 form on the web it will be the identical form which you would typically get in the past. You will discover that it possesses the identical details and the sole distinction is that it is an electronic copy. Even so, before you print it out and use it to submit your income taxes, be sure that all the info is correct. Make sure you verify your name as well as social security number.

Correcting W-2 Info

If you discover details on your W 2 to be incorrect, you must contact your workplace to have it fixed. They have forwarded these details to the IRS therefore the details you give them needs to match that info or you will need to answer the IRS about the reason the info did not match.

Additionally, when you are missing an anticipated W-2 you should not ignore it even though it is just for a little bit of money. The IRS will possess a version from your company and will need to know the reason why you failed to submit the form.

Tax Data Imported Into Tax Form

Once you choose to how to get w2 online, it will be among the simplest ways of tracking your income tax details. This is why it is an aspect that you will certainly want to think about. Not every employer will have this feature for their workers therefore it is vital to ensure you check to begin with to confirm you qualify to get your W-2 form on the internet.

For anyone who submits their tax returns with TurboTax you will be happy to know that they are able to import the data from your W-2 form to make submitting tax forms simpler. By doing this you can be confident that your tax return is correct, and assured to get the biggest income tax refund or pay the bare minimum sum of taxes possible.