Filing Status

If I moved out of my house on July 10, but was not divorced at the end of the year, can I file as head of household and take the earned income credit if I have a minor child? Can I also claim child care expenses?

You do not qualify for the head of household filing status because you and your spouse have not lived apart for the last 6 months of the taxable year and are not considered unmarried. Your filing status for the year will either be married filing separately, or married filing jointly. If it is married filing separately, you will not qualify for the Earned Income Credit and cannot claim a credit based on child care expenses. If you file a joint return with your spouse, you may be eligible to claim these credits.



Earned Income Tax Credit: Qualifying Child Rules

My child was born and only lived 40 minutes. Can she be used as a qualifying child when figuring the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit?

If your child was born alive and died during the same year, and the exemption tests are met, you can take the full exemption. This is true even if the child lived only for a moment. Whether your child was born alive depends on state or local law. There must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document such as a birth certificate. 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 or 1040A. If you have determined that you are eligible to claim your child's exemption, you may also be eligible to claim the Child Tax Credit.


The Earned Income Credit generally requires that you provide a valid social security number for your qualifying child. However, 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.

In order to claim the Earned Income Credit, does the child have to be claimed as a dependent?




A qualifying child for the Earned Income Credit does not need to qualify as a dependent unless he or she is married.


If the noncustodial parent receives permission from the custodial parent to claim a child on his or her tax return, is the noncustodial parent eligible for the Earned Income Credit?

The noncustodial parent cannot claim the Earned Income Credit on the basis of that child because the child did not live with that parent and does not meet the residency test. The custodial parent may be able to claim the Earned IncomeCredit.


My wife and I have two children and we are going to file separate returns this year. Can we each claim one child for the Earned Income Credit?

In order to qualify for the Earned Income Credit, your filing status cannot be Married Filing Separately. If you are married, you usually must file a joint return to claim the Earned Income Credit. However, 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. In that case, you may be able to claim the Earned Income Credit.

Earned Income Tax Credit: Taxable &; Nontaxable Income

Is child support considered income when calculating the Earned Income Credit?

No, for purposes of calculating the Earned Income Credit,child support is not considered earned income.


Earned Income Tax Credit: Other EITC Issues

If both parents want to claim the Earned Income Credit, who is entitled to it if there was no marriage?

If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, they may choose which one will claim the credit. If there are two qualifying children, each parent may claim the credit on the basis of one of the children or one parent may claim the
credit with both children. If both actually claim the credit on the basis of the same child or children, the parent who is entitled to the credit is the parent with whom the child lived for the longest period of time during the tax year, or the parent with the higher Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the year.
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Can I get the earned income credit?

You may be able to take this credit for 2005 if you did not have a qualifying child and you earned less than $11,750 ($13,750 for married filing jointly). You may also be able to take this credit if you had one qualifying child and you
earned less than 31,030 ($33,030 for married filing jointly), or you had more than one qualifying child and you earned less than $35,263 ($37,263 for married filing jointly).

Can Form 1040EZ be used to claim the Earned Income Credit?

You can use Form 1040EZ (PDF) when claiming the Earned Income Credit only if you do not have a qualifying child. However, you must meet several requirements to use Form 1040EZ. If you do not meet all of them, you must use Form 1040A (PDF) or Form 1040 (PDF).