Can children be claimed as dependents and for CTC if they lived in Philippines for all of 2021? Dad & Mom are married with 2 kids ages 14 & 8. Dad is US citizen living & working all of 2021 in USA. Mom and 2 kids are dual citizens in USA & Philippines. Mom & 2 kids went to Philippines in late 2020 and have been there since. Mom has no income. Dad is supporting the whole family. They received the advanced CTC payments for 2021. Dependency and CTC rules say the kids have to live in taxpayer's home for over 1/2 the year, with some exclusions for temporary absences. I believe Dad & Mom can file a joint return, but can the kids be claimed as dependents and also qualify for the CTC? Am I missing something here? Thank you!
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On a Joint return, the wife is also a taxpayer. So the kids did live with the taxpayer. -
Thank you TaxGuyBill. I agree with that... Is it that simple? And I have been reading way too much into the situation?... it's too early in the season to be making things harder than they are.
I did answer the questions for both kids on the IRS's interactive tax assistant "Whom May I Claim as a Dependent" and it said the kids could be claimed as dependents...Comment
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Too bad she did not have any income....she could have filed as head of household and been eligible for EITC considering they lived apart for the last six months of 2021"Dude, you are correct" Rapid RobertComment
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Originally posted by Dude View Post
A temporary absence would not allow Head of Household. So assuming they were expecting to live together again, she would not qualify.
For EIC, children have have lived with you in the United States for at least half of the year, so they would not qualify for EIC.Comment
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I dont see where when considering unmarried for tax purposes the continuation of the marriage after the separation has to be determined. For tax purposes an argument could be made that they are unmarried?https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdfOriginally posted by TaxGuyBill View Post
Temporary abscences of the children are allowed for EIC. However it would be a stronger case if the father claimed head of household since he has the U.S. domicile. A mute point because he probably fairs better filing MFJ."Dude, you are correct" Rapid RobertComment
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In this case the income is over the EIC limits. The clients are still married, and I was told they plan to be together as a family again. It is certainly best if they file MFJ, which they do qualify for as far as I can tell. And I believe they qualify to claim the kids as dependents and for CTC since the kids lived with the taxpayer (Mom) over half the year {as pointed out by TaxGuyBill}. Thank you all for your comments.Comment
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