[mylilangels]

Okay, our dfcs office told me we can claim our two foster children that we've had for over 13mths each..Now, when I called the IRS they told me I needed to do the worksheet, well the first ques is how much support do they bring in for themselves basically. We were told during impact that some goes to them and some is for our time etc. So do I only put down half the amt we get for per diem or the whole amt. I had a fp tell me that if I claim them they always come back and check and most of the time you end up owing what you got for them. I need to know soon as I'm getting my stuff together. I look at it like I get c.support and I don't have to use that for taxes so why should we with this? Thanks for the help..

[Chancey]

Well, we claimed our foster children last year. Yes, the IRS says you have to do the worksheet, but what they are not saying (or the worker didn't know) is that the law states that the "child did not provide more than half his or her own support". See the IRS publication http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdfhere on page 7, in the box "Tests to be a Qualifying Child". In the case of foster children, the State provides the support, the children do not, so you as the foster parent automatically qualify if you have had them for over 6 months. There is no need to do the worksheet cause all that is for is to determine if someone is your dependent. What I found with the worksheet is that it would apply more to you helping support your own parents where they do help pay their support.

Moreover, I had additional proof last year that we could claim our foster son. We filed without claiming him and had to cut a check for $700 to the IRS. A couple months later the above law was clarified for me and so I filed an amended return (talk about pointing the whole foster thing out to the IRS!!). The IRS hand correct 1 more error I had made in determing the dollar amount they owed us (it was in my favor) and sent us a check for $1500.

[LibbyHawkins]

How did you claim them, did you get their SS#?

[sunsetsky]

Hi,
What if the fc is underthe age of 6 months? Do we use the x# provided on their health card for their ss#? Thanks for the info!

[mylilangels]

yes our cw gave us copies of their cards..i had been told by many ppl we can claim them, so i asked and they said yes..make sure it's a copy of the card though..lst yr they gave us a # but it was to late, well thank goodness b/c it was the wrong #..

[Kate1129]

I think it varies by state.

In my state we don't have to claim the income that is given to us. We only need to prove that they are were in our care more then half of the year.

In our case we paid to have our taxes done by a professional the first year so we knew the ins and outs. After that we've done them ourselves and it's been pretty easy.

[Chancey]

Our CW provided the SS numbers - actually copies of their cards!! I had to ask for one, but the last two they were automatically provided.

[stevenstwin]

Remember that you can only claim them if you've had them at least 6 full months. So if the child is younger, I don't think you can claim them at all -anyone have more info on this?

Originally Posted by sunsetsky

Hi,
What if the fc is underthe age of 6 months? Do we use the x# provided on their health card for their ss#? Thanks for the info!

[bjhv5]

we could not claim sophia last year because she was under 6 months.

[AmahMama]

I was told that you had to have a foster child for the full year before you could claim them. I'm glad to hear it's down to 6 months. Since I do Foster Only, I usually only have them about 6 months - but not 6 months in the same year. . . Oh well, even tho' I had kids all year - they were different ones - so I guess I'm not gonna get that one. . . . .

[vesw01]

You have to have the foster children in your care for more than 6 months during the calendar year - so they have to be there before so it has to be 183 days out of the year - then you get to claim them as your dependents. The money that the foster care system should not apply towards your income. This is non-taxable income.

[h518may]

Or since birth. If you got them at birth, but under 6 months you can claim them. It's just like is you gave birth say in Oct. you would still claim the child, same with FC.

[sunsetsky]

Hi h518may,
where did you get this information?

[vesw01]

Check with your tax preparer for sure or your tax software should help you. I am using Taxcut by HR block and it actually gives fosterchild as a dependent option - it then asks you how many months they have lived with you. The rule is that you have to provide more than 50% of their living expenses - so the infant should apply.

If someone finds out for sure, let us know. Then if that is the case, those that didn;t get to claim them last year might be able to file an amendant and get more money back.

[h518may]

IRS publication 972

child tax credit

look under qualifying child - exception to time lived with you

"A child is considered to have lived with you for all of 2006 if the child was born or died in 2006 and your home was this child's for the entire time he or she was alive." page 2 under qualifying child

Hope that helps anyone.

April