Claiming a new baby does give you certain tax breaks.
Claiming your son or daughter as a dependent will shelter $4,050 of your income from tax in 2016. A new baby also delivers a $1,000 Child Tax Credit, and this is a gift that keeps on giving every year until your dependent son or daughter turns 17. You get the full $1,000 credit no matter when during the year the child was born. Unlike a deduction that reduces the amount of income the government gets to tax, a credit reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar. So, the $1,000 child credit will reduce your tax bill by $1,000.
