Rev. date: 1/29/2010Normally, to be a qualifying child for earned income credit
and meet the residency test, your child must have lived with you for more than
half of the tax year. For earned income credit purposes, even if your child was
not alive for more than half of the year, the child is considered to meet the
test as if the child lived with you for the entire time he or she was alive
during the year.
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The earned income credit generally requires that you provide
a valid social security number for your qualifying child.
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If you meet all the other requirements to claim this credit
and your child was born and died in the same year, you will not be required to
provide a social security number for that child.
-
Instead, you may enter
"DIED" on line 4 of
Form 1040, Schedule EIC (PDF),
Earned Income Credit, and attach a copy of the child's birth certificate.
If your child was born alive and died during the same year,
and the exemption tests are met, you can take the full exemption.
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This is true even if the child lived only for a moment. Whether
your child was born alive depends on state or local law.
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There must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document
such as a birth certificate.
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Under these circumstances, if you do not have a social security
number for the child, you may attach a copy of the child's birth certificate
instead and enter
"DIED" in column 2 of line 6c of the
Form 1040 (PDF) or
Form 1040A (PDF).
Rev. date: 1/1/2011You do not have to be entitled to claim the child as a dependent
to claim the earned income credit based on the child being your qualifying
child. However, the child cannot file a joint return for the year except as a
claim for refund. Even if your child does not file a joint return, if your
child was married at the end of the year, he or she cannot be qualifying child
unless:
• you can claim an exemption for the child,
or
• The reason you cannot claim an exemption for the child is because
you released a claim to a dependency exemption for the child under the special
rule for divorced or separated parents or parents who live apart.
For more information, refer to:
Rev. date: 1/1/2011No. In order to qualify for the earned income credit, your filing
status cannot be married filing separately.
The earned income credit has increased. If you have two
qualifying children your Adjusted gross income must less than $40,295 ($45,295
if married filing jointly) this is the new amount.
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If you are married and your spouse did not live in your home
at any time during the last 6 months of the year, you may be able to file as
head of household.
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In that case, you may be able to claim the earned income credit.
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