Undeniably, though, children are expensive. Parents and guardians have to provide food, clothing, education, health, shelter, time, love, and care to raise a thriving child, and those things can really eat into your pocketbook.
Thankfully, the tax laws offer quite a bit of help to parents by making the burden of taxation easier on them. Here are five key things to remember if you’re a parent.
1. Standard Deduction Each child in your family is another dependent on your tax form, which means a $3,750 deduction if you’re filing using standard deductions (which many people do, particularly those who do not own homes). If you have two children, like I do, this can easily save you $1,000 on your tax bill, if not more.
2. Child Tax Credit You can earn a tax credit of up to $1,000 per child if your total household income is $110,000 or below. See IRS Publication 972 for full details on this benefit.
3. Child and Dependent Care Credit You can earn a tax credit of up to 35% of your child care expenses. If you have child care for your children, this is a must. See IRS Publication 503 and Form 2441 for the full scoop.
4. Education Credit If you have a student enrolled in an eligible educational institution (most colleges qualify), you can get the Hope Education Credit, which is worth up to $1,800. Check out IRS Form 8863 for more information.
5. Earned Income Tax Credit If you have children, it’s much easier to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a powerful benefit for people with a low income. You can use the IRS EITC Wizard to find out if you qualify for this credit.
Having a child may be expensive, but that child can do wonders when it comes to tax time.
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