Claiming a newborn...who will be born late in October this year.?

Question

Okay so-

Everyone is getting ready for Income tax season-and Im trying to figure this out.

I am a US citizen (as is my husband)

I am having a baby in USA.

She will be born in Late October.

Can we claim her on our 2008 taxes?

Or could my father claim her?

Who would get more money?

What is the price ranges?

Have you experienced this?

Will she even be "claimable" for dependent or child?

Answer 1

Your having her, labor pains and all. The heck with your father. If you & the babys father are married file jointly & most definatly claim her. Thats $ 2500 dollars a kid on your taxes. You are crazy if you don't. You need to see an accountant if you don't know the answer to that one because there are probably a lot of other things that you can claim that you haven't been & if thats the case the accountant can go back & look at the last 3 years of your taxes and you will probably get more back especially if you own a home or live in a home. I did ir last year and ended up with an extra $ 3000 back from were another accountant screwed up. Its worth the money. Do not go to H&R block. They s***w you big time.

Answer 2

Congratulations!  The following answers are short - most others have already provided more details.

Yes, you can claim her on your 08 tax return.

Your father could only claim her if he meets all the requirements which generally means who pays the bills for your daughter.

Generally the person who is in a higher tax bracket.  Besides getting an extra deduction and exemption on the return, whoever claims your daughter would be eligible to receive additional stimulus money.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Well, SOMEONE could claim her, normally her parents.  YOUR father could claim her if he meets all of the rules to claim her, and neither parent claims her.

Answer 4

Why would you let your father claim her? That probably will not fly with the father of your baby. You or the baby's dad should claim her, its a nice benefit and you will likely get a refund because it of, and any future stimulus checks you receive will be based off how many kids you claim.  

Answer 5

If you're married, don't you file a joint tax return with your husband every year?  Why would you guys file separate income taxes when you're married?  Babies that are born in 2008, can be claimed as dependents on the 2008 income tax.  Babies that will be born in 2009, can be claimed as dependents on the 2009 income tax.  The amount of taxes you owe will depend on how much you made and how much taxes you paid.  There is no range.  Everyone is different.    

Answer 6

Yes, you can claim the child.  Per the Internal Revenue Code: A child born before 12:00AM January 1, can be claimed on your 2008 Federal and State Income Tax returns.  A dependent exemption makes about $300.00 to $350.00 extra money to your refund and could qualify you for Earned Income Credit.  Hard to say from the information given if you or your dad would benefit more from claiming the baby.  I would suggest that you and your dad go together to the tax professional and see which way of claiming the baby would be best for you.

A good test is to take both your dads and your 2007 returns and add a dependent to each and see that the additional exemption does to both return.

My honest guess is that you have not worked much this year and/or you will be taking a big part of the year off due to the baby being born.  With you income being lowered as a result of the time off work, I would think the dependent exemption would give a bigger deduction to your dad.  

If you visit the IRS web site at www.irs.gov and look at Publication 17 in the forms section you will see the 5 tests for claiming a dependent and you will get a better idea of the income tax laws.

All things to think about, but your tax professional will be able to assist you.  Hope this helps you.

Answer 7

If you are financially responsible for her, even if she was born Dec. 30th, you could claim her!