Can a mother who children were in foster care claim them ?

[Sky60]

They lived with foster larents 10 months

[MargaretL]

No, a mother can't claim the children as dependents since they didn't live with the mother for more than 6 months. 

To claim dependency for a qualifying child, the child must:

1.  Be the taxpayer’s child, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, niece, nephew, or descendant of any of them.
2. Be younger than taxpayer and either under age 19 or a full-time student under age 24; or any age if totally and permanently disabled.
3. Live with the taxpayer more than half the year.
4. Not provide more than half of his own support. (Publication 501, page 16)
5. Not file a joint return (unless filed only to claim a refund).
6. Not be a qualifying child of another taxpayer with higher priority under the tie-breaker rules.

[ochs1916]

My child is in foster care with his grandma since the beginning of the year but started staying with me for half the week since May can I clam him on my taxes?

[NCperson]

who did the child spend more than 183 days with?  that is who can claim the child. 

[Anyaowens]

I have been dealing with this for the last two years how do I put a stop to it happen again.this is why I haven’t gotten my tax money or the other check the government sent out.i need help ASAP I need my money

[CatinaT1]

Can you provide more information?  Your post is on an old thread.  Are you a mother with children in foster care or are you the foster care parent?

[MdHouck]

If your mother has children that are in foster care but the state did not have custody of them the entire year of 2019 , can she still claim them on her 2018 taxes ?  The children went into foster care in April ( the parents agreed to this in order to avoid the state taking Custody) and they did not have legal custody in 2019. Ohio

[VictoriaD75]

To qualify for the child tax credit, you must meet these basic requirements:

• The dependent must be a U.S. citizen or resident.
• You can claim your child, stepchild, adopted child, grandchild or great-grandchild.
• Under a recently revised definition of "qualifying child," you can also claim the credit for siblings, step-siblings and half-siblings that live with you.
• Foster children qualify if they were placed with you by a court or authorized agency.
• To claim the credit, children must live with you more than half the year and must not provide more than half of their own support.
• You must report each qualifying child's Tax Identification Number (TIN) on your return. It's usually the child's Social Security number.

Child Tax Credit

Rules for Claiming a Dependent

[44crombie44]

My daughter is under guardianship with a friend of mine. She doesnt file taxes herself so she's letting her daughter claim her on her taxes. But she's not related to my daughter. And I'm the one that supplies financial support for my daughter. Is this other person allowed to claim my daughter without my permission?

[NCperson]

it's a little confusing how you wrote that (are we dealing with 3 adults - you, your friend and her adult daughter), but here is what I suggest

go through this IRS tool and play the role of each adult in this situation when you answer the questions.  That will explain it to you. will take you under 15 minutes.

where does your daughter live? 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

I suspect it will work out that if you are paying more than 50% of the child's support but she doesn't live with you, you can claim her as an "other dependent" (which is the $500 credit).  Your friend nor her daughter can because they do not provide 50% of your daughter's support, your daughter is not blood related to them in any way and they are paying less than 50% of her financial support, 

if two people claim the same child, the IRS will figure it out. 

[Tabbylee89]

What if a mother does do this too a foster family?

[PattiF]

If your return was rejected because children that you claimed were already used as dependents on another return, you will have to file a paper return to claim the dependents. If they lived with you for more than half of the year and you provided more than half of their support, you will be able to claim them. You should double-check the Social Security numbers to make sure that all were entered correctly.

A paper return will need to be filed if the e-filed return is rejected because the dependents were already claimed. Here is a TurboTax help article with more information.

[Kristiemarienurse]

Can a mother whose child is in foster care for the entire claim the child on her taxes

[macuser_22]

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@Kristiemarienurse wrote:

Can a mother whose child is in foster care for the entire claim the child on her taxes

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No.   The child must have physically lived with you more then half the year.

[chastity_lashure]

If the child lived with you for more than 6 months, then you have the right to claim the child.