my son only lived 11 hours, can i still claim him on my taxes? and if so how much would i get back?

Question

im also made less than 10,000 this year.

Answer 1

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. This is a valid tax question, so don't let those answers suggesting that you're heartless get to you. Please.
You will be able to claim an exemption for your child, along with the Child Tax Credit, and Earned Income Credit. It is not pro-rated or cut because he lived only a moment. You are entitled to his exemption for the entire year. Making less than 10,000 tells me that you're going to get some Earned Income Credit. Since I don't know exactly what you earned, I can't tell you how much it will be.
You may need an SSN for your child. I will say that I'd have to look this one up. My nephew lived for a week and the Social Securit Number had already been applied for, so by the time the return was filed, they had it. I am 80% sure that you will only need the birth and death certificates as proof of his existence.
Again, my heart goes out to you during what must be a very difficult time. This might be the year to see a professional tax preparer - just to make sure you get all you're entitled to. Best wishes for a peaceful and healing New Year.

Answer 2

So sorry about your son.

Yes, you can claim him as a qualifying child on your tax return for the year when he was born. With an income of only $10K you wouldn't owe much tax anyway, so your tax savings would only be the amount you owe which would be around $125, but you'd also qualify for EIC of around $2853. If your income was far under $10K, those numbers might be high.

Answer 3

Iam not 100% sure but from what I know about tax laws the answers is no. Because your dependant has to have live with you six months out of the year inorder for you to claim them on your taxes. However you can search www.irs.gov which is the actual irs website and you can get the correct answer.

Answer 4

Well, Ninas seems like he/she knows what they're talking about, however, when my daughter was first born and also in the cases where other people I know have children, we were told that your child had to be alive for at least 6 months out of the fiscal year in order to claim and be elgible for the Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC) which is the biggest amount you will recieve for any child if you make under whatever the federal household guidelines is for your household/income size. Otherwize, under that 6 months, don't expect much of anything. Oh yeah, sorry for your loss.

Answer 5

If your child was born in 2007 and died, you may still claim him. The amount of time your child lived does not matter as long as he was alive in 2007.

You will claim him as a qualifying child on your tax return, assuming that you yourself are not a dependent on someone else's tax return. There may be tiebreaker issues to resolve if you are unmarried and the other parent also claims the child. If this is the case, the parent with the higher AGI will have priority to claim the child.

If you claim a child on your tax return, your taxable income is reduced by $3,400. In addition, your taxes are reduced by $1,000. If your income is below a certain limit, you will receive Earned Income Credit based on your child.

How much may your refund increase? Between zero and perhaps $2,500 depending on your income and filing status.

Answer 6

As for the SSN, if it wasn't issued (He only lived 11 hours, so it's highly unlikely), you put "died" in column 2 and attach a copy of the birth certificate.


Let's clear this up.
The 6-month rule does NOT apply in the year of birth or death. If that baby *would* have gone home to the TP's home, the residency test is met for both Qualifying child rules as well as EIC rules.

From IRS publication 501:
Residency Test
To meet this test, your child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who WERE BORN OR DIED DURING THE YEAR, kidnapped children, and children of divorced or separated parents.

Temporary absences. Your child is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one of you, or both, are temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as:
Illness,

Education, Business, Vacation, or Military service.

Death or birth of child. A child who was born or died during the year IS TREATED AS HAVING LIVED WITH YOU ALL YEAR IF YOUR HOME WAS THE CHILD'S HOME the entire time he or she was alive during the year. The same is true if the child lived with you all year except for any required hospital stay following birth.

********Child born alive. You may be able to claim an exemption for a child who was born alive during the year, even if the child lived only for a moment. State or local law must treat the child as having been born alive. There must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document, such as a birth certificate. The child must be your qualifying child or qualifying relative, and all the other tests to claim an exemption for a dependent must be met.

From the EIC publication 596:
Birth or death of child. A child who was born or died in 2006 is treated as having lived with you for all of 2006 if your home was the child's home the entire time he or she was alive in 2006.

Answer 7

Yes you can claim your son. The exemption is $3,400. I am sorry about your loss.

Answer 8

No, you would be required to submit a Social Security number for him, and my bet is that you do not have one. Sorry for your loss; I cannot imagine how hard that must have been for you.