Child Tax Credit

[Bees Knees]

Wishful thinking

As much as you would like the Uniform Definition to be Uniform, it is not. It is not a uniform definition, and it does not make the application of the HOH, dependency, child tax credit, EIC, and dependent care credit equal and uniform.

The first thing everyone needs to learn going into this tax season is that there is NO SUCH THING as a "Uniform Definition" of a qualifying child. Period. That was Congressional hype. Not based on any facts. Each applicable code section places its own variation on the rules.

[Bees Knees]

I went through the instructions for the 2005 Form 1040 and it does lead to the conclusion, as you stated, the child tax credit will follow the dependency deduction.

Look again.

Page 19, Step 2, Question 3. Could you, or your spouse if filing jointly, be claimed as a
dependent on someone else’s 2005 tax return? See Steps 1,
2, and 4.

Yes. You cannot
claim any dependents.
Go to Step 3.

If you say yes, you cannot claim the child as a dependent. BUT, it then has you go to Step 3 which sees if you can still qualify for the child tax credit.

It wouldn't have you go to Step 3 if there was no way you could claim the child for the child tax credit.