Child Tax Credit

[B. Jani]

Child was born on 04/26/92 means 17 years old at the end of 2009. ATX does not calculate child tax credit. Am i understanding it correctly that child at the end of year 17 do qualify for the CTC? AGI is $39,000. MFJ with son.

TIA.

[TaxmannEA]

The Child Tax Credit is lost in the year that the child turns 17. Therefore, no CTC for this dependant in 2009.

[Pacun]

The Child Tax Credit is lost in the year that the child turns 17. Therefore, no CTC for this dependant in 2009.

Correct, child must be under 17 at the end of tax year. No more 1K for this person.

[RitaB]

Do you all get that question, "How come you didn't claim Billy? He's only 17..."

I REALLY wish they had made the age 19, not 17.

[Lion EA]

Yeah, and different ages for different credits, etc. A pain to keep up with, but as you say, even more of a pain to explain to clients. It's time consuming to explain to clients that their return was done correctly, that it's the laws Congress passed that created the different handling of children for different purposes.