Can I claim my newborn as living with me "all year" for 2024 taxes if born in November?

For tax purposes, your child is considered to have lived with you for the entire year of 2024 even though they were born in November! The IRS specifically addresses this situation in their rules for qualifying dependents. A child born during the year is treated as having lived with you for more than half of the year if your home was the child's home for more than half the time they were alive during the year. Since your daughter lived with you from birth in November through the end of the year, that's 100% of her life in 2024, so she absolutely meets the residency test for being your qualifying child. You should answer "yes" to any question asking if she lived with you all year.

Hey there, went through this exact situation last year with my October baby and honestly struggled with the same question! After going in circles trying to figure it out myself, I used this AI tax assistant at https://taxr.ai that specifically helped me understand all the child-related tax benefits I was eligible for as a new parent. It analyzed my specific situation and confirmed I could claim my newborn as living with me the entire year despite being born in October. The tool explained everything about the Child Tax Credit, dependent care expenses, and even helped me understand how adding a dependent would affect my filing status options. It was really helpful for navigating all the first-time parent tax questions I had!

Just wanted to update that I tried the taxr.ai tool that was mentioned here! I was due in December but ended up having my baby early on Nov 28th. I wasn't sure how this would affect my taxes, especially with all the end-of-year timing. The tool actually walked me through everything step by step and showed me exactly which tax benefits I qualified for with my November baby. It confirmed what others have said here - my newborn IS considered to have lived with me all year for tax purposes, and I qualified for the full Child Tax Credit! It also helped me figure out whether to file as Head of Household vs Single (I'm not married) which I was confused about. Super helpful and saved me from making some mistakes on my return!

If you're also having trouble getting through to the IRS to confirm this information (like I was), I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent. I waited on hold for 2+ hours trying to confirm some details about my newborn twins and taxes before I gave up. With Claimyr, I got a callback from the IRS in about 20 minutes! You can see how it works in this demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and then call you when an agent is about to pick up. Saved me SO much time and frustration when I needed to verify some specific details about my situation that weren't clearly addressed in the standard IRS publications.

Alright I feel like I need to come back and eat my words. After my skeptical comment earlier, I decided to try that Claimyr thing because I was STILL having issues getting through to the IRS about my amended return that's been processing for 10 months. I can't believe it actually worked! I submitted my request around 9am and got a call back around 9:35am connecting me to an actual IRS agent. I was literally preparing my "this is a scam" follow-up post but instead I'm here telling you I got more accomplished in a 15-minute call than I did in months of trying on my own. The agent confirmed everything about newborns qualifying as living with you for the full year, btw, so the original advice in this thread is 100% correct. They also helped me figure out what was holding up my amended return which was a huge relief.

Just want to add - make sure you also have your baby's Social Security Number before you file! The hospital should have helped you apply for it after birth, but it can sometimes take 2-3 weeks to arrive in the mail. You absolutely cannot claim any child-related tax benefits without a valid SSN for your child, even if they were born on December 31st.

Anyone know if this same rule applies for the Earned Income Credit? Me and my gf had our baby girl on Nov 15th and I heard the EIC gives you a pretty decent amount back if you don't make too much $$$.

Great question! I went through this exact same situation when my son was born in December 2023. I was so confused about whether to mark "yes" or "no" on the forms, but it turns out the IRS has very clear guidance on this. As others have mentioned, your daughter is absolutely considered to have lived with you for the entire year of 2024, even though she was only born in November. The key thing to remember is that the IRS looks at what percentage of her life she lived with you during the tax year - which in your case is 100% since she's been with you from birth through December 31st. This means you can claim her as a dependent, get the full Child Tax Credit ($2,000 for 2024), and potentially qualify for other benefits like Head of Household filing status if you're single. Just make sure you have her Social Security Number before filing - that's the one thing that can't be skipped!