Question: Is there an age limit on claiming my child as a dependent?

To be claimed as your dependent, your child must meet the qualifying child test or the qualifying relative test. To meet the qualifying child test, your child must be younger than you and, as of the end of the calendar year, either be younger than 19 years old or be a student and younger than 24 years old.  There is no age limit on claiming your child as a dependent if the child meets the qualifying relative test.

As long as all of the following tests are met, you may claim a dependency exemption for your child:

• Qualifying child or qualifying relative test,
• Dependent taxpayer test,
• Citizen or resident test, and
• Joint return test.

Question: For head of household filing status, do you have to claim a child as a dependent to qualify?

In certain circumstances, you do not have to claim the child as a dependent to qualify for head of household filing status; for example, a custodial parent may be able to claim head of household filing status even if he or she released a claim to exemption for the child.

Question: If the noncustodial parent receives permission from the custodial parent to claim a child on his or her tax return, is the noncustodial parent eligible for the earned income credit?

No. The noncustodial parent cannot claim the earned income credit on the basis of that child because the child did not live with that parent for the greater part of the year and therefore does not meet the residency test.

Question: Can I receive a tax refund if I am currently making payments under an installment agreement or payment plan for a prior year’s federal taxes?

No.  As a condition of your installment agreement, any refund due to you in a future year will be applied against the amount that you owe.

• The IRS will automatically apply the refund to the taxes owed.
• You must continue making your installment agreement payments as scheduled and in full, because your refund is not applied toward your regular monthly payment; therefore any payments due under the installment agreement must still be made in full.
• Regardless of whether you are participating in an installment agreement or other payment arrangement with the IRS, you may not get all of your refund if you owe certain past-due amounts, such as federal tax, state tax, a student loan, or child support. For more information on these non-IRS refund offsets, you can contact the Bureau of Fiscal Service (BFS) at a toll-free number 800-304-3107.

Question: I filed electronically but my tax return was rejected. What do I do now?

There must be an error on your return. Please review the following:

• You should receive an explanation of why the return was rejected.
• If a mistake was made when entering a social security number, a payer’s identification number, omitting a form, or misspelling a name; the errors can be corrected and the return can be resubmitted electronically again with the IRS.
• Unfortunately, there are other errors that will cause you to have to file a paper return by mail.