To qualify for the Empire State Child Tax Credit you must:
1. Be a full year NY state resident or be married to a full year resident
2. Have a qualifying child at least 4 years old and under 17 on 12/31/15 that qualifies for the federal child tax credit
3. You must have taken a child tax credit on your Federal return OR your Federal Adjusted Gross Income is
- $110,000 or less for Married filing a joint
- $75,000 or less for single or Head of Household or qualifying widow(er)
- $55,000 or less for Married Filing Separately
Also, you would need to claim both children as dependents this year and they would both need to qualify for the federal child tax credit in order to take the credit on your NY return.
In addition, the IT-213 instructions have a note:
"If for federal income tax purposes your child is claimed as a dependent by your child's noncustodial parent, you cannot claim that child as a qualifying child for purposes of the Empire State child credit."
Please see the following IRS Publication for more information on what makes a qualified child for the federal child tax credit.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p972/ar02.html#en_US_2010_publink100012081
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.