Exploring the Child Tax Credit

I've been boning up on portions of tax law that are either new, changing, or of fresh relevance to me this year, and thought I'd post up some of my findings, in case they can help any of you.

Let's talk about the child tax credit.

Clearly, I've used this in the past for Catherine, and will use it this year for Jeffrey as well.

But the focus of my research was claiming someone other than my son or daughter; namely, my nephew, who lived with us from May 2010 through January 2011.

Here's what I've found:

To claim the child tax credit, the child in question has to pass six tests: age, support, relationship, dependent, citizenship, residence.

In detail:

Age - The child must be under 17

Support - The child can provide no more than 50% of his own support

Relationship - Son, daughter, foster child, brother, sister, grandson, granddaugher, niece, nephew and step-children of all of the preceding varieties

Dependent - The child must be claimed as a dependent on the filer's taxes during the year where the child tax credit is claimed for them (does this seem like a no-brainer to anyone else?)

Citizenship - The child must be a legal US citizen, resident, or resident alien

Residence - The child must reside with the filer for greater than 50% of the year for which the child tax credit is claimed

Let's recap and see if we qualify:

Age? 15...check!
Support Himself? On video games.  But seriously, no.  Check!
Relationship? Nephew...check!
Dependent? Executed temporary guardianship documentation, enrolled in school here...check!
Citizenship? Mars.  Nevermind.  USA-USA-USA!  Check!
Residence? May-December = 8 months.  8/12 = 75%.  75% > 50%.  Check!

Looks like we're good to go...hope this info is helpful to you as well!

And remember: even if the child qualifies to be claimed on your taxes, always make sure no one else is claiming him as well; a child can be claimed only once, no matter how many people have a valid claim.

For more details: IRS.gov: Child Tax Credit (PDF)