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Can I claim my grandson which I have custody of for the last 2 years if I did not pay taxes can I claim the child credit and get money ba k?

 
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1 Reply
TomK
Expert Alumni

Can I claim my grandson which I have custody of for the last 2 years if I did not pay taxes can I claim the child credit and get money ba k?

Perhaps.  For 2016, the Child Tax Credit is at least partially refundable if you had an earned income of more than $3,000.

The IRS defines earned income as:
  • Taxable income you earned as an employee, such as wages, salaries, commissions, and tips;
  • Profits from operating your business or farm;
  • Long-term disability pay, if received before the minimum retirement age;
  • Union strike benefits.
Worker's comp, unemployment, Social Security and pensions don't count as earned income. More info

If you did have earned income:

"The easiest way to figure out who may claim a dependent is to enter information in TurboTax, and the program will determine if you can claim the children".

Your Two possibilities to claim a dependent are as follows:

You may be able to claim your grandson as a Qualifying Child dependent if:

  1. The child must be related to you. The child can be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.
  2. Your child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
  3. Your child must live with you for more than half the year, but several exceptions apply (i.e., away at school).
  4. The child cannot provide more than half of his/her support.
  5. You must be the only person claiming the child
  6. The child must be a US citizen, resident alien, national, or resident of Mexico or Canada.
  7. The child cannot file a joint return with his or her spouse.

You may be able to claim your grandson as a Qualifying Relative dependent if:

  1. You provided more than half of his support in 2016
  2. He earned less than $4,050 in gross taxable income. (Social Security income generally doesn’t count here.)
  3. He lives with you 365 days in the year or is related to you.
  4. He isn’t a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
  5. He isn’t filing a tax return with a spouse (married filing jointly).
  6. He is a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident

You can’t claim a dependent if you are a dependent on someone else’s taxes

See Rules For Claiming Dependents




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