Qualifying Child Rules
Question: My child was born and only lived 40 minutes. Can she be used as a qualifying child when figuring the earned income credit and the child tax credit?
Answer:
Earned Income Credit. A child who was born or died in 2012 is treated as having lived with you for all of 2012 if your home was the child’s home the entire time he or she was alive in 2012.
- The earned income credit generally requires that you provide a valid social security number for your qualifying child.
- If you meet all of the other requirements to claim this credit and your child was born and died in the same year, you will not be required to provide a social security number for that child.
- Instead, you may enter "DIED" on line 2 of Schedule EIC (Form 1040A or 1040) (PDF), Earned Income Credit, and attach a copy of the child's birth certificate, death certificate or a hospital medical record showing a live birth.
Dependency Exemption and Child Tax Credit. A person is considered to have lived with you for all of 2012 if the person was born or died in 2012, and your home was this person’s home for the entire time he or she was alive in 2012.
- The child must be born alive. Whether your child was born alive depends on state or local law.
- Under these circumstances, if you do not have a social security number for the child, you may attach a copy of the child's birth certificate or a hospital record showing a live birth and enter "DIED" in column 2 of line 6c of the Form 1040 (PDF) or Form 1040A (PDF).
Additional Information:
- Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
- Publication 972, Child Tax Credit
- Publication 596, Earned Income Credit
Category: Earned Income Tax Credit
Subcategory: Qualifying Child Rules
