Discussion:Children in Foster Care
From TaxAlmanac
Discussion Forum Index --> Basic Tax Questions --> Children in Foster Care
Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Children in Foster Care
NancyCPAMom (talk|edits) said: | 3 December 2007 |
| We are foster parents to two children that will have been with us for 7 months this year. Prior to that they spent 3.5 months in kinship care.I believe that we are entitled to claim them as dependents on our return and that we do not have to report foster care payments as income. Is this correct? Their siblings spent 4 months in kinship care and then 2 - 4.5 months in foster care (depending on the child). Can the biological mother claim them as dependents if they lived with her less than six months? If not, does anyone? Does any of this change if social services billed the biological mother for foster care? | |
| 3 December 2007 | |
| Publication 501 | |
NancyCPAMom (talk|edits) said: | 4 December 2007 |
| Wow, must be nice to feel so superior. This has been a very violent case with our own personal safety on the line as we protect these children from multiple abusers on the father's side who are attempting to locate the kids. It may seem like a "duh" question, but the ramifications are big. The kids have already spent part of their lives literally hungry and cold because mom didn't have enough money. The last thing we need is her hooking up with a 4th abuser in order to get money. I wasn't about to tell her she couldn't claim the kids (therefore no credits, etc) unless I double checked. | |
| 4 December 2007 | |
| A foster child must be in your care for 12 months in order to claim them as a dependant. From my experience, the child care agency will issue a 1099 to you for the care less than 1 year. You can put is on a sched c. For long term care, no income is declared. | |
| 4 December 2007 | |
| Hrmmm. People get 1099s for adopting kids? I'm confused or maybe i'm not old enough to understand this country. Am I reading correctly or people are getting paid to adopt a kid? | |
| 4 December 2007 | |
| Nancy,
Correction to the above post...a foster child is your "Qualifying Child" if the child is under 19 at end of tax year or under 24 and full time student; you provided more than half of his/her support; lived with you more than half the year; and this person is not the qualifying person of another taxpayer.
If you meet these requirements, you are entitled to claim the child as a dependent. There may be some tiebreaker issues since she is the parent and if she has their SSNs, she'll likely claim them if she is hard up for money. I used to have a storefront practice and saw this stuff all the time. If you want to be sure, file your return paper. If you file electronic with the children and they've been claimed, the return will be rejected. If you are entitled to the exemption(s), file paper. | |
NancyCPAMom (talk|edits) said: | 4 December 2007 |
| Thanks for the information. If the biological mom does file her taxes, I am sure she will try to claim them regardless of what she is told. She loves her kids, but good judgement and honesty are not her strengths.
If their siblings (that were in other foster homes) lived with no one for at least six months, can anyone claim them? If she is entitled, I would like her to get the credits for those kids. Additional financial strain will just drive her to more bad choices. | |
NancyCPAMom (talk|edits) said: | 5 December 2007 |
| Actually, I had looked it up and just wanted verification before we claimed the two kids with us. It may not seem like a big deal to you, but with six kids, three fathers, three restraining orders, six therapists, two CASA's, four caseworkers, and the private detective trying to find us, I can't make a mistake.
And if you really had held your sarcasm, your second post wouldn't have happened. You also assumed wrong that I practice tax. | |
NancyCPAMom (talk|edits) said: | 5 December 2007 |
| OK, you win. Obviously feeling smart by putting others down is how you feel important. I have better things to do. | |
| 5 December 2007 | |
| You can't hold yourself out to the public as a CPA if you are not!
Get an acct to help you figure this out. My experience with this is from some years ago. Things may have changed since then. | |
| 5 December 2007 | |
| Kevin & Blrg, back off, will you please? You're under no obligation to answer questions you don't care to answer. The woman said she was a CPA. She also said she was a mom. It was clear from the post she was asking a question for her pesonal situation. Blrg, being a CPA does not mean she practices in taxation or that she even practices at all any longer. (Yeah, yeah, there is a statement before she posed her question. Big deal!) She did not have to give up her CPA license when she became a mom, so don't accuse her of anything. Give a little Christmas cheer. | |
