Tax Credits For Kidnapped Children? Cold Yet Practical
It may seem cold and downright cruel, but it is true.
The IRS has tax credits for parents of kidnapped children.
Of course, if your child is actually kidnapped, tax credits are the least of your concerns, really.
Just like any other IRS tax credit provision, there are qualifiers before you can claim it.
A kidnapped child can be claim as a dependent if the following provisions are met: 1.
The child has been presumed by the police and other law enforcement agencies to be kidnapped by someone who is not a member of your family or the child's family, and 2.
The child shared the same home as the taxpayer for more than half of the tax year immediately prior to the kidnapping.
If both requirements of kidnapping and home sharing are met, you may claim child tax credit, dependency exemption, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) with dependent child filing status.
There are limits to this tax treatment.
Tax credits for kidnapped children cease when the child is proclaimed dead or if the child reaches 18 years old.
Of course, tax credits are the last thing on any parent's mind when a child goes missing.
Nothing could be more frightening than not knowing where your child is.
A missing child is in serious danger if he or she has been kidnapped.
However, the fact is, very few children are ever kidnapped in the United States.
In a national study by the U.
S.
Department of Justice, it was observed that of the 1,131,000 to 1,500,000 children who were reported missing in 1999, only 200,000 children were actually abducted, lost, or injured.
Half of these missing children either ran away from home, or were evicted by a parent or a guardian.
Others were missing for the most benign of resigns, like communication mix up.
For children who were actually abducted, majority of them were kidnapped by family members, not strangers.
The IRS has tax credits for parents of kidnapped children.
Of course, if your child is actually kidnapped, tax credits are the least of your concerns, really.
Just like any other IRS tax credit provision, there are qualifiers before you can claim it.
A kidnapped child can be claim as a dependent if the following provisions are met: 1.
The child has been presumed by the police and other law enforcement agencies to be kidnapped by someone who is not a member of your family or the child's family, and 2.
The child shared the same home as the taxpayer for more than half of the tax year immediately prior to the kidnapping.
If both requirements of kidnapping and home sharing are met, you may claim child tax credit, dependency exemption, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) with dependent child filing status.
There are limits to this tax treatment.
Tax credits for kidnapped children cease when the child is proclaimed dead or if the child reaches 18 years old.
Of course, tax credits are the last thing on any parent's mind when a child goes missing.
Nothing could be more frightening than not knowing where your child is.
A missing child is in serious danger if he or she has been kidnapped.
However, the fact is, very few children are ever kidnapped in the United States.
In a national study by the U.
S.
Department of Justice, it was observed that of the 1,131,000 to 1,500,000 children who were reported missing in 1999, only 200,000 children were actually abducted, lost, or injured.
Half of these missing children either ran away from home, or were evicted by a parent or a guardian.
Others were missing for the most benign of resigns, like communication mix up.
For children who were actually abducted, majority of them were kidnapped by family members, not strangers.