Can i claim my foster children

[ash_mstera]

Foster baby born on 5/30/20. Placed with us 6/1/20. If we have her through the rest of year. Can we claim her on next years tax filing? Technically we would have her for 30 weeks in 2020 which is more than half a year if you go by weeks

[RobertG]

Yes, you can claim the child. The rule is: "The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year".

IRS Publication 501, Page 11.

@ash_mstera

[Batyari]

My nephew was placed with us on sept 30th, however through out this year but  we have taken care of him  over 6 months would I still be able to claim him even though he was not legally placed until 09/30?

[macuser_22]

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@Batyari wrote:

My nephew was placed with us on sept 30th, however through out this year but  we have taken care of him  over 6 months would I still be able to claim him even though he was not legally placed until 09/30?

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Yes.    If he meets the other requirements for a Qualifying Child.   A nephew does not need to be a foster child to meet the requirements.

---Tests To Be a Qualifying Child---
(Must pass ALL of these tests)

NOTE: If a child passes all of these tests he must say “yes” on his/her own tax return (if he/she files one) that another taxpayer CAN claim him/her as a dependent even if they DO NOT claim him/her)

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 2019, (b) under age 24 at the end of 2019 and a full-time student* for any part of 5 months of 2019, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled and must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly).

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service).

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2019_publink1000171012

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 is not filing a joint return.

7. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico

*A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year.

See IRS Publication 17 for more information.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

[ctkap]

what about a foster child that's a newborn. born 10/31, came to me 11/5? please let me know the answer assuming they are with me through the end of the tax year, as well as if they are moved at some point in mid-december to kinship placement (but would have spent more than half their life during this tax year with me)?

if i am a single parent to this foster child, does this also mean i can claim head of household?

[DanielV01]

@ctkap:  Can you claim the foster child as your dependent (qualifying child)?  Yes.  Please note the following excerpt taken from the following IRS website: IRS Qualifying Child FAQs

• Generally, the child must live with you for more than half of the tax year to be a qualifying child. You may treat a child who was born alive or died in 2019 as having lived with you for more than half of 2019 if your main home was (or would have been) the child's main home for more than half of the time he or she was alive in 2019. Whether your child was born alive depends on state law.  (Bolding included for emphasis.  Article from 2019, but 2020 tax law on this point is unchanged.

Given your facts, the child will have lived with you for more than half of the year it was alive in the year it was born.  Provided you have proper foster-care documentation proving that the child was placed with you, you will be allowed to claim your foster child.

Can you claim Head of Household?  Maybe.   This link provides more information on this:  Do I qualify for Head of Household in 2020?  There is an additional link inside that a qualifying dependent can include foster children that have lived with you at least half of the year.  You appear to qualify on the residency portion of the test for Head of Household, and the question will be if you qualify on the remaining tests.

[Kaely0987]

What if the foster child(ren) have had multiple placements and no one had them for 6 months. However we had them the longest of all the placements during 2020, and still currently have placement?

[macuser_22]

If the child did not live with anyone more then half the year, then nobody can claim.     Physically living with the taxpayer more than 183 nights in the tax year is a requirement to claim a qualifying child.

[kayedward02]

I'm wondering if anyone can help clarify a question on the support topic. The state/county provides regular payments for our foster child. Should we count this towards the rule of "child provides 50% of their support?" In our case, those payments would definitely be more than 50% of what the child needs, so I'm hesitant to claim them as a dependent based on that. However, if those should not be counted, the "child" doesn't provide anything directly and would be a dependent.

[macuser_22]

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@kayedward02 wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone can help clarify a question on the support topic. The state/county provides regular payments for our foster child. Should we count this towards the rule of "child provides 50% of their support?" In our case, those payments would definitely be more than 50% of what the child needs, so I'm hesitant to claim them as a dependent based on that. However, if those should not be counted, the "child" doesn't provide anything directly and would be a dependent.

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Money that the state pays is support provided by others.    Support provided by the child must be the child's own money from working, loans, investment income, etc.

See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2020_publink1000171012

[Lovingsitter4u]

I live in California, I have 2 fosters placed in my since July 5th 2020 and they are currently still placed with me (3/14/2021).

5 months in 2020

3 months so far 2021

Would I claim them for 2020 or 2021?

Also what would I need when filing? There Social security? Birth cert.? Ect.

T.I.A.

[macuser_22]

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@Lovingsitter4u wrote:

I live in California, I have 2 fosters placed in my since July 5th 2020 and they are currently still placed with me (3/14/2021).

5 months in 2020

3 months so far 2021

Would I claim them for 2020 or 2021?

Also what would I need when filing? There Social security? Birth cert.? Ect.

T.I.A.

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For both years they must live with you more than half the year to claim them (more the 183 days).   July 5 is slightly less than a half yea by a few daysr so legally, no.

[Maureen ML]

So I'm clear. We can clain that we supported the child during that period? 

[macuser_22]

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@Maureen ML wrote:

So I'm clear. We can clain that we supported the child during that period? 

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For a child under age 18, support is irreverent. 

---Tests To Be a Qualifying Child---
(Must pass ALL of these tests)

NOTE: If a child passes all of these tests he must say “yes” on his/her own tax return (if he/she files one) that another taxpayer CAN claim him/her as a dependent even if they DO NOT claim him/her)

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 2020, (b) under age 24 at the end of 2020 and a full-time student* for any part of 5 months of 2020, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled and must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly).

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service).

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2020_publink1000171012

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 is not filing a joint return.

7. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico

*A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year.

See IRS Publication 17 for more information.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

[Slhurst90]

I have a question. Ok my children were placed with my mom my the courts right after xmas 2020 until July 16th 2021. So she had them for 6 & a half months and they are now back with me. Since it was court ordered is there a way for her to claim them for the time she had them and then I claim them for the time I have them or does she have to claim them for the whole year? And if she does, will it come back on me since I'm getting the monthly ctc payments for them but I had them back when the payments started? 

Any info will help please. We just need to know how we are suppose to go about this.