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Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?

My child was born on 12/31/2019 abroad.

He is my biological son.

My wife is a non-US resident. She is Vietnamese nationality.

I got an interview schedule with the US consular in Vietnam and they granted my son the CRBA (Consular report of birth abroad) certificate in March 2020.

The complication comes in when I need to file my tax for 2019. Can I claim him as my dependent? I provide more than half of his support.

According to the citizenship rule, he should be a US citizen at birth since I am a US citizen who have been physically in the US for more than 5 years.

 

"A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) of the INA provided the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child's birth."

 

However, he didn't get his citizenship certificate until March/2020. So I am confused can I still claim him as my dependent since he should have been a US citizen at birth, which was 12/31/2019.

 

Thanks in advance

 

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1 Best answer

Accepted Solutions

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?


@toanhn1983 wrote:

Thank you DoninGA for your answer. I did review the item list that you referenced above and what prompted me to ask the question in this forum was item 6.

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

 

He got his CRBA in 2020 and SSN in 2020, but he was born 2019. I believe he should be a citizen at birth so regardless when he got his CRBA and SSN, he should still qualify as a citizen in 2019, correct?


Correct, he is the child of a US citizen, therefore he is a US citizen at birth.

View solution in original post

5 Replies

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?

The child must have either a Social Security number or an ITIN issued by the IRS for you to claim him as a dependent on your tax return.

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?

Hi,

Yes he has an SSN. But that doesn't mean I can claim him for 2019. Thus my question was can I claim him for 2019 tax return. He got his CRBA in 2020 and SSN in 2020, but he was born 2019. That is the question I would like to get an answer to. Thank you.

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?


@toanhn1983 wrote:

Hi,

Yes he has an SSN. But that doesn't mean I can claim him for 2019. Thus my question was can I claim him for 2019 tax return. He got his CRBA in 2020 and SSN in 2020, but he was born 2019. That is the question I would like to get an answer to. Thank you.


Yes, you can claim him as your dependent on a 2019 tax return.  Any child born in 2019, even if on 12/31/2019 can be claimed as a dependent on a 2019 tax return if they have a SSN and meet the requirements under either the Qualifying Child rules or the Qualifying Relative rules.

A child born in 2019 is deemed to have lived with you for the entire year for tax purposes.

 

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

 

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,200 (social security does not count) in 2019
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?

Thank you DoninGA for your answer. I did review the item list that you referenced above and what prompted me to ask the question in this forum was item 6.

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

 

He got his CRBA in 2020 and SSN in 2020, but he was born 2019. I believe he should be a citizen at birth so regardless when he got his CRBA and SSN, he should still qualify as a citizen in 2019, correct?

Can I claim my child as dependent when he just obtained the CRBA?


@toanhn1983 wrote:

Thank you DoninGA for your answer. I did review the item list that you referenced above and what prompted me to ask the question in this forum was item 6.

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

 

He got his CRBA in 2020 and SSN in 2020, but he was born 2019. I believe he should be a citizen at birth so regardless when he got his CRBA and SSN, he should still qualify as a citizen in 2019, correct?


Correct, he is the child of a US citizen, therefore he is a US citizen at birth.

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