The Child Tax Credit for 2013 is still available for families who have a dependent under the age of 17. The Child Tax Credit has been extended through December 31, 2017 by the 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act.
For instance if you have child that is age 17 or under at the end of the year, the Child Tax Credit will take $1,000.00 off your tax liability. In some cases, you can even receive a refundable credit from the deductions. In another words, you can receive cash back from the government.
The following is an easy to understand list on who qualifies for the Child Tax Credit for 2013:
- Child Tax Credit allows you can claim up to 3 children. So, if you are claiming 3 children your credit would be $3,000 = 3 x ( $1,000.00
per child). - The child must be younger than 17 at the end of the year.
- The child must live with you for more than a year.
- You must have provided more than half of the support for the child.
- The child must be related to you by blood, such as son, daughter, brother, sister, or a descendant of any of them. You can also claim the child if they are stepchild, foster child or adopted.
- The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national or resident of the U.S.
- The child must be a dependent of the taxpayer.
- The child must be YOUNGER than the person claiming the credit.
- As with all tax credits, if you make too much money the credit phases out. So, if your Maximum Adjusted Gross Income is at $110,000 for Married Filing Jointly the credit starts to phase out. If you decided to file Married Filing Separately, the credit phases out at $55,000. For Single and Head of Household, the credit phases out at $75,000.00.
- Military families may elect to include non-taxable combat zone pay in their earned income for purposes of the credit.
The Refundable part of the Additional Child Tax Credit for 2013 is where you receive MONEY back for the government!
Here’s how the child tax credit is calculated:
For example:
If your tax liability is $2,000.00 and you are claiming 3 children for the Child Tax Credit, you will receive $3,000.00 from the tax credit. You will receive $1,000.00 (3,000 – 2,000) back from the Government.
However, with all credits there are limitations on how much you can receive as a refundable child tax credit. A portion of the credit is refundable if the taxpayer has earned income of $3,000.00 or more. The refundable portion is generally 15 percent of the amount by which the taxpayer’s earned income exceeds $3,000.00 (but limited to the amount of the child tax credit not allowed as a result of the tax liability limitation). Form 8812 is used to compute the amount of the refundable credit. That refundable portion of the credit is known as the additional child tax credit. The good news is that 1040Return will do the calculations for you to ensure you a maximum refund.
