Question

Can a single mom with no income file taxes for one child

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 5, 2019
9 replies
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TurboTax Free Edition Online

Employee

If you have no income of any kind to report on a tax return, then there is no need or reason to file a tax return, with or without a dependent child. You are not eligible for any kind of tax credit if you do not have any earned income. And you cannot receive a tax refund if you did not have any income where income taxes would have been withheld.

S

SweetieJean

Employee

How do you support yourself and the child? Can someone else claim you and your child? Your screen name suggests that you may be under age 19, and living with your parents.

Hal_Al

Employee

The money you hear about people getting for just filing a tax return claiming kids requires you to have some earned income (wages or self employment). Without earned income, you are not eligible for the "refundable" Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit.

If you are a student, over age 23, and are not claimed as a dependent by someone else (e.g. your parent) you may be eligible for the up to $1000 refundable American Opportunity (tuition) Credit. That credit is not dependent on having either kids or earned income. You must be at least a half time undergraduate student and actually paid tuition (not just had it paid by grants). Tuition paid by loans counts as paid by you (since you have to pay that back, someday)

A child can be the “qualifying child” dependent of any close relative in the household. If you live with someone else, e.g. your parents, it may be better if they claim your child. Or, it may be better if the non-custodial parent claims the child.

Z

zanonetate

What if the mom receives child support as her only source of income...can she file and claim her children then?

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WhrlWind

Child support is not your earned income. That money has already been taxed when baby daddy earned it therefore he reports it on his taxes.

AmyC

Employee

I suggest you take a short anonymous online IRS quiz. Do you need to file? Should you file? Who can you claim? Answers here:

Earned income - wages - are the source of the Earned Income Credit that people get for being low income with kids. Without wages, you certainly do not qualify for that.

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M

MotherTeresa

Hi,

It wouldn't be logical to file taxes if you do not have a job. If you were unemployed a full year, the following year you wouldn't need to file as you didn't make any income to do so!! Makes sense right? It should!

So if you have NO income to report ; therefore ,you DO NOT have a reason to file a tax return, regardless to whether you have a dependent child or not.

Thank you,

Teresa

(BA degree, Mother, I love my Melanin)

A

amina124

Ok but I’m getting 3600 for my baby I had in 2021 and I had no taxable income

S

SweetieJean

Employee

This thread originated several years ago. As of NOW, if your main home is in the United States for more than 6 months of the year, you do not need income to be eligible for the child tax credit. But how do you pay your bills? Is someone else supporting you and your family? If so, you might be their dependents.

Here is a link to the IRS site answering many child tax credit questions. child tax credit

S

Suriyyah

Can a single mom with no income with a child file tax

T

ToddL99

Yes, a single mother with a child, but no income, can file a tax return.

There is, however, no reason to file a return if you have have no income.

As @DoninGA states above:

If you have no income of any kind to report on a tax return, then there is no need or reason to file a tax return, with or without a dependent child. You are not eligible for any kind of tax credit if you do not have any earned income. And you cannot receive a tax refund if you did not have any income where income taxes would have been withheld.

K

Kellironnelle

DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE DECLARING SOMETHING TO BE FACTS!!! This makes me so angry!!

YES you can and most definitely should file taxes if you are a single mother with zero income the filing year!!! You are afforded the Earned Income Tax credit as well as the Child Tax credit per child which will give you quite a bit of money!! FILE PLEASE!!!

R

Rljones717

How can I as a single father get a tax credit if I haven't worked since like 2018 full time I do odds and ends here and there to support me and my daughter but from the injuries I received from a motorcycle accident I can't work 8 hours a day and I don't have disability but my child's mother worked in 2017 and has been getting the child taxes the whole time and not helping me at all so how's it that I can do it and I can verify I've had my daughter since she was 79 days old and I have full custody.

I

Irene_2022

How do I apply for tax without income but I have a kid

DoninGA

Employee

@Irene_2022 wrote:

How do I apply for tax without income but I have a kid

Without any taxable income or taxes withheld from income you cannot get a tax refund, with or without a child.

K

Kellironnelle

You are so VERY incorrect!! If you are a single mother and did not have any income or income below the filing requirement, ABSOLUTELY YOU FILE!!! There are many tax credits you are afforded because you have a or more children that will provide you with a refund!! A prior client I encouraged to file, same situation I just described, received $3050 due to Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit, not working one day that year!! SINGLE MOTHERS OUT THERE, PLEASE FILE IF YOU DID OR DID NOT WORK!!

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

@Kellironnelle

The tax laws changed for child-related credits and are much less generous for 2022.

Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number. Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment. If your child was born in 2022 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year. There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support. Say NO to that question.

Have you entered income from working in 2022? If not, you will not receive an income tax refund based on having dependent children.

The rules for getting the child tax credit on a 2021 tax return and now on a 2022 return are very different. For 2021 you could get $3600 for a child under 6 or $3000 for a child between 6 and 17 even if you had no income/did not work. That is NOT the way it will work for your 2022 tax return. The “old” rules are back.

The maximum amount of the child tax credit is now $2000 per child; the refundable “additional child tax credit” amount is $1500. In order to get that credit, you have to have income from working. The credit is calculated based on the amount you earned above $2500 multiplied by 15%, up to the full $1500 per child.

If your child is older than 16 at the end of 2022, you do not get the CTC. But you may still get the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents instead.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900923-what-is-the-child-tax-credit

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/does-my-childdependent-qualify-for-the-child-tax-credit-or-the-credit-for-other-dependents

And for the Earned Income Credit—-the rules are back to the “old” rules—

Those under 25 and over 65 without children are not eligible as they were uniquely in 2021. And you cannot use your income from any earlier tax year to get the EIC for a 2022 return. There is no “lookback” for 2022. EIC for 2022 will be based on the income you earned by working in 2022.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899157-what-are-the-qualifications-for-the-earned-income-credit-eic-or-eitc

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/use-the-eitc-assistant

Look at your 2022 Form 1040 to see the child-related credits you received

PREVIEW 1040

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Child Tax Credit line 19

Credit for Other Dependents line 19

Earned Income Credit line 27

Additional Child Tax Credit line 28

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**