Question about the Child Tax Credit?

My daughter was 17 years old in September of 2011. For nine months of 2011, she was 16 years of age. She is currently a high school senior and lives with me full time, and I support her financially full-time. Am I no longer eligible for the child tax credit, or would I be partially eligible for the child tax credit because she was sixteen years old for most of 2011? Any accurate info would be appreciated. Thanks

2011-12-13T20:57:13Z

This paragraph is on the H&R Block website. It states 19 years of age. I guess that's why I am a little confused...

What is a qualifying child?
Having a qualifying child may enable you to claim several tax benefits, such as Head of Household filing status, the exemption for a dependent, the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the Earned Income Credit. A child is considered to be a qualifying child if the child meets all of the following conditions:

* Relationship — The child must be your child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or stepsibling, or a descendant of one of these.
* Residence — The child must live with you for more than half the tax year. Some exceptions apply for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.
* Age — The child must be younger than 19 at the end of the tax year, or younger than 24 if a full-time

Gerald2011-12-13T20:52:05Z

Favorite Answer

Sorry, but the law states that the tax credit is determined by the dependent's age at the end of the tax year. While this may not sound fair, try to remember that back when she was born, you got a full child tax credit for her even though she was only a few months old.

Hope that helps.


Additional:

The rules for dependents changed a few years ago, and the additional info you provided was part of the change. Generally, dependents are split into 2 groups, Qualifying child and Qualifying Relative. The info you copied deals with qualifying children.

The trick is that while a qualifying child can qualify you for those credits (including child tax credit), EACH of the credits also have their own separate qualifications. So you can have a DEPENDENT that is a qualifying child and is 17, but since the CHILD TAX CREDIT requires the child to be less than 17, the child does not qualify for child tax credit.

In short, the info you got from the website is both correct AND irrelevant.

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Anonymous2011-12-14T04:34:07Z

She has to be 16 on December 31st, 2011. She isn't, so she doesn't qualify at all for the child tax credit.

20

Judy2011-12-14T04:43:16Z

Nope, sorry, there's no partial credit. Since she's 17 by the end of 2011, you don't get a child tax credit for her for 2011.

20

CarVolunteer2011-12-14T10:04:57Z

The reason for your confusion is that you didn't see the words "may enable". You have to have a qualifying child for those items, but you also need to meet other requirements in most cases. "May enable you" is not the same as "enables you".

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Cathi K2011-12-14T05:25:26Z

She can still be a qualifying child but not qualify for the ctc.

10

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