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 of 1,000 for each qualifying child (relative, citizen, dependent, under the age of 17). Tax filers must provide the name and identification number (usually the social security number) of each qualifying child on their federal return. The amount of Child Tax Credit phases out for upper income earners. Part of the Child Tax Credit may be refundable if you owe no taxes. For more information see this IRS publication.

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 work or look for work. The child must be 12 or younger or of any age as long if they are not capable of self-care, for example due to disability. The spouse or parent must not be capable of self care. For more information see this IRS publication.

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. For detailed eligibility guidelines see this IRS publication and the AARP Tax Aide.

Extended Tax Credits of the 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act introduced a host of new tax credits including an expanded EITC and Child Tax Credit. Most of these tax credits expired in 2010, but some were extended into for 2011, including the post-secondary education and home weatherization credits below. For more information visit see this IRS publication.

American Opportunity Credit: Deduction of a percentage of expenses paid for post-secondary education. For information see this IRS publication. 

Home Energy Credits: Deduction of a percentage of expenses paid by homeowners to make energy-saving or green energy home improvement including adding insulation, energy efficient windows, doors and some roofs. For more information see this IRS publication.

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, see this IRS publication.

Find Out If You Qualify for Government Benefits!

Use The Benefit Bank's Quick Check to quickly prescreen yourself or your family for government benefits, including food stamps (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicare. 

You can also check-out Benefits.gov, which 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.