What Other Tax Credits And Benefits Should I Know About?
- Child tax credit (CTC)
Tax filers with children may be entitled to a child tax credit for each qualifying child. Tax filers must provide the name and identification number (usually the social security number) of each qualifying child on their federal return. The maximum amount of the credit is $1,000 for each qualifying child. The Child Tax Credit may be limited depending on the amount of the tax filer’s tax liability and their modified adjusted gross income. See the Form 1040 or 1040A Instructions for more information. - Child and dependent care credit
The Child and Dependent Care Credit is available for tax filers who had to hire someone to provide care for a child or other dependent (for example a spouse or parent) who is not capable of self-care. In order to be eligible, the person claiming the credit must have hired a caregiver in order to be able to go to work. The child can be of any age as long as they are not capable of self-care, for example due to disability. The same is true of a spouse or parent. Please go to the IRS link below for in-depth information on eligibility. - IRS eligibility information:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p972/ar02.html#en_US_publink100012080
Credit for the elderly or people with disabilities
The Credit for the Elderly and Disabled is available to those who are age 65 or older or to those younger than 65 who are retired because of permanent and total disability. The eligibility requirements include being a U.S. citizen or resident as well as restrictions on both sources and amounts of income. Please see the IRS links below for detailed eligibility guidelines and the AARP Tax Aide link below for tax resources for older Americans
Links to IRS information:
Tax Credits and Deductions for Education, Energy Improvements, Auto Purchase, etc. under the Recovery Package
A variety of new or expanded tax credits are now available as part of the Recovery Package.
For updated information on these tax credits and deductions and related publications from the IRS, please click here.
Adoption Credits
Families that have adopted a child are eligible to deduct adoption expenses in two ways: as both a tax credit and as an income exclusion. For the tax credit, qualifying adoption expenses per child up to a certain limit may be deducted from the taxpayer’s tax liability as a tax credit. In addition, if the taxpayer’s employer has contributed to adoption expenses, an additional amount for each adoption may be excluded from the taxpayer’s gross income. For detailed information on the Adoption Tax Credit, go to the following IRS link.
Think you might qualify for other government benefits? Find out here!
Govbenefits.gov is a free and confidential prescreening tool that allows you to search for benefits that you may be eligible to receive. The website allows you to search benefits by state or category and provides links to other prescreening tools such as food stamp eligibility. http://www.govbenefits.gov/