Child Tax Credit

mtnman · Post by **mtnman** » Thu May 02, 2013 11:13 am

If a US citizen resides in the US with children and Green Card holder works and primarily resides in Canada, can:

1) child tax credit be claimed in a joint return ?
2) can amended returns be claimed on wife's "married filing seperatly" return before the spouse had Green Card and before the kids had SSN's ? Should the filing status be changed to "head of household" ?

Thanks

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Thu May 02, 2013 11:42 am

1. yes; it can be claimed on any return, only the income thresholds are lower than MFJ.

2. You can change filing separately to jointly for past 3 years. you can change also to head-of-household, but the income thresshold is still much lower athan for joint, which would be the only reason to change filing status in the first place.

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Thu May 02, 2013 11:43 am

Note that for you to get Chuild tax credit at least one of you has to report wages that are NOT excluded by form 2555.

ND · Post by ND » Fri May 03, 2013 12:10 pm

Support for Nelsona's comments can eb found here:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch0 ... 1000170762

Joint Return After Separate Returns

You can change your filing status from a separate return to a joint return by filing an amended return using Form 1040X.

You generally can change to a joint return any time within 3 years from the due date of the separate return or returns. This does not include any extensions. A separate return includes a return filed by you or your spouse claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.

Separate Returns After Joint Return

Once you file a joint return, you cannot choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return.

comptalien · Post by **comptalien** » Mon May 13, 2013 9:40 pm

I know someone who can answer http://www.comptable-ca.com/

jim_immic · Post by **jim_immic** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 1:31 am

[quote="nelsona"]Note that for you to get Chuild tax credit at least one of you has to report wages that are NOT excluded by form 2555.[/quote]

Hi nelson,

Is there a minimum amount of income not excluded by form 2555 required to claim the child tax credit?

Jim

nelsona · Post by **nelsona** » Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:17 am

You can't -- to my knowledge -- partial exclude wages on 2555, unless you eceed the annual limit. For the child tax credit, you need to report INCOME. not necessarily wages.

The best os for one of the couple to use 2555 and one use 1116.