Can I claim my December-born baby as a dependent for the entire 2021 tax year and get full child tax credit?
Title: Can I claim my December-born baby as a dependent for the entire 2021 tax year and get full child tax credit? 1 I just had my first child on December 21, 2021 and I'm trying to figure out how this affects my taxes. Can I claim her as a dependent for the entire 2021 tax year even though she was only here for like 10 days of it? I'm also confused about how the increased child tax credit ($3600 for 2021) works in this situation. Do I get the full amount? And what about that economic impact payment of $1400 per dependent that went out earlier in 2021? I definitely didn't get that for her since she wasn't born yet when those went out. Also, we're still waiting on her social security card and birth certificate to arrive. Does it matter when those documents are actually issued, or just her actual birth date? Like if her SSN card doesn't arrive until February 2022, can I still claim her on my 2021 taxes? Thanks for any help! First-time parent just trying to figure out all these new tax situations.
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Omar Hassan
8 Yes, you can absolutely claim your December baby as a dependent for the entire 2021 tax year! The IRS considers a child born on any day of the year as eligible to be claimed as a dependent for the full tax year. So even though your little one was only here for those 10 days in December, for tax purposes, it's as if they were here January 1st. For the Child Tax Credit, you'll be eligible for the full $3,600 amount for 2021. The timing of birth doesn't reduce the credit - if they're your dependent for the tax year, you get the full credit. As for the Economic Impact Payment (stimulus), you won't have received it for your December baby when the payments went out, but you can claim it when you file your 2021 taxes as the Recovery Rebate Credit. So you'll still get that $1,400 for your new dependent.
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Omar Hassan
•12 Thanks for this info. Do they need to have their SSN before I file, or can I file with just their birth certificate and get the SSN later? My son was born December 18th and we're still waiting on his card.
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Omar Hassan
•8 You'll need your child's SSN to claim them as a dependent on your tax return. The IRS requires this identifying information for all dependents. If you don't have it yet when you're ready to file, you have a couple options. You can wait until you receive the SSN to file your return (you have until April 18, 2022, or you can file an extension). If you're in a rush to file, you technically can't claim the child or the associated credits without the SSN. Once you receive it, you would need to amend your return to add the dependent and claim the relevant credits.
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Omar Hassan
5 Just wanted to share that I was in a similar situation last year and struggled with all the paperwork. I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much stress. I uploaded my documents and it helped me understand exactly how to handle the dependent situation for my December baby - confirmed I could claim the full CTC amount and showed me where to enter the info for the Recovery Rebate Credit too. The analysis it provided made everything crystal clear.
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Omar Hassan
•17 Does taxr.ai actually work with documents like birth certificates? I'm skeptical about uploading personal documents like that to any website.
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Omar Hassan
•23 How long did it take to get your results? I'm already stressed about filing late because we're waiting on my baby's social security card.
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Omar Hassan
•5 Yes, taxr.ai handles birth certificates and other personal documents with complete security. They use bank-level encryption and don't store your documents after analysis. It just reads the information to help identify what tax benefits you qualify for. The analysis takes just minutes to complete. You'll receive detailed results shortly after uploading your documents. This is actually perfect for your situation because it will help you determine everything you can claim while waiting for that social security card, so you can prepare everything else and just add that number when it arrives.
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Omar Hassan
17 Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I gave it a try and I'm honestly impressed. I was hesitant about uploading my documents, but the security seemed solid and the analysis I got back was incredibly detailed. It confirmed exactly what benefits I qualified for with my late-year baby and showed me how to claim both the Child Tax Credit and Recovery Rebate Credit. It even flagged that I could claim childcare expenses for the last week of December when we had a sitter come help! Would have completely missed that otherwise.
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Omar Hassan
14 If you're struggling to get through to the IRS with questions about this dependent situation, I highly recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS about a similar dependent question, and was getting nowhere with those automated systems. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. They have a demo video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c
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Omar Hassan
•6 How exactly does this work? Are they just calling the IRS for you or something? Seems like it wouldn't be any different than me calling myself.
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Omar Hassan
•23 This sounds like BS honestly. The IRS wait times are crazy because their systems are overloaded. How could some third-party service possibly get through faster than anyone else?
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Omar Hassan
•14 They're not calling for you - they use a sophisticated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they get a live agent, they connect the call to your phone. It's basically like having someone wait on hold for you, so you don't waste hours listening to that terrible hold music. It works differently than calling yourself because they use technology to continuously dial and navigate the system, which most people can't do while going about their day. The service simply handles the frustrating waiting part, then you talk directly to the IRS agent yourself when they're ready.
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Omar Hassan
23 I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After a particularly frustrating morning trying to reach the IRS about my December baby's tax credit situation, I decided to try it out of desperation. Not exaggerating - I was connected to an IRS agent in 17 minutes when I'd been trying unsuccessfully for two weeks. The agent confirmed everything about claiming my December-born dependent and the full Child Tax Credit. Just got off the phone and wanted to post this immediately because I'm honestly shocked at how well it worked.
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Omar Hassan
19 Just adding my experience - my daughter was born December 29th last year, and I did claim her for the full year. Make sure you have the birth certificate and SSN before filing though! I tried filing early with just the birth certificate thinking I could amend later for the credits, and ended up having to file an amended return which delayed my refund by about 4 months. Definitely wait until you have both documents.
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Omar Hassan
•3 Did you get the advance Child Tax Credit payments for her? My December baby's SSN didn't arrive until February, and I'm wondering if I missed out on something by not having it earlier.
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Omar Hassan
•19 No, you wouldn't have received advance Child Tax Credit payments for a December 2021 baby because those payments were based on your 2020 tax return (or 2019 if the IRS hadn't processed your 2020 return). Since your baby wasn't on either of those returns, no advance payments would have been sent. You didn't miss out on anything though - you'll claim the full $3,600 Child Tax Credit when you file your 2021 return. Those who had kids earlier in the year and received advance payments will only claim the remaining portion on their tax return.
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Omar Hassan
11 Has anyone had issues with the "born alive" requirement? My twins were born December 24th, but one had complications and sadly passed away two days later. The hospital issued a birth certificate AND a death certificate. Can I still claim both as dependents for 2021?
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Omar Hassan
•8 First, I'm so sorry for your loss. Yes, you can claim both children as dependents for 2021. The IRS rule is that a child who is born alive during the tax year but passes away before the end of the year can still be claimed as a dependent. You'll need both the birth certificate and SSN for each child (the hospital should have helped start the SSN application process even for your child who passed). If for some reason you don't receive an SSN for your child who passed away, the IRS allows you to write "DIED" in the SSN field on your tax return, along with the date of death. You may want to attach a copy of the birth certificate to your return in this case.
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Cameron Black
Congratulations on your new baby! Yes, you can absolutely claim your December 21st baby as a dependent for the entire 2021 tax year. The IRS has a simple rule: if a child is born at any point during the tax year, they can be claimed as a dependent for the full year. You'll be eligible for the full $3,600 Child Tax Credit for 2021 - there's no proration based on how many days your baby was actually here. And you're correct about the $1,400 Economic Impact Payment - since your baby wasn't born when those went out, you'll claim it as the Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2021 tax return. Regarding the SSN and birth certificate timing - you'll need your baby's Social Security Number to actually file your tax return and claim her as a dependent. The good news is that the date the documents are issued doesn't matter, only her actual birth date. So even if her SSN card doesn't arrive until February 2022, you can still claim her on your 2021 taxes as long as you have the number before you file. If you're getting close to the filing deadline and still don't have the SSN, you can always file for an extension to give yourself more time. But once you have that number, you're all set to claim all the benefits for your little one!
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Sean Doyle
•This is really helpful! I'm in a similar situation with my baby born December 15th. One quick follow-up question - do I need to do anything special to apply for the Recovery Rebate Credit for my baby, or does it automatically calculate when I add her as a dependent on my return? I'm using tax software and want to make sure I don't miss claiming that $1,400.
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