Yes,You can claim Foster children as a dependents as long as they are placed in your careby a placement agency, court order, or any government agency. Five testsmust be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are: Relationship Age Residency Support Joint returnIn your case as long as you were ordered by a governmentagency to care for the child(ren) you have passed the Relationship test, The Agerequirements are as follows Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), A student under age 24 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), or Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.TheResidency requirement is also met because the child was under your careand financial support for more than half of the year. To meet the Support test the child cannot provide more than half of hersupport for the period in question. The IRS Rules for Personal Exemptions and Dependents are verydetailed. To view the rules and tests for dependency please click on thefollowing link: IRSPersonal Exemptions and Dependents Here you will be able to view in detail every specific aspectwhich may apply to you’re the status of your Personal exemptions andDependents.

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Can i claim my foster children

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
9 replies
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Best answer by JaimeG

Yes, You can claim Foster children as a dependents as long as they are placed in your care by a placement agency, court order, or any government agency.

Five tests must be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are:

In your case as long as you were ordered by a government agency to care for the child(ren) you have passed the Relationship test,

The Age requirements are as follows

Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly),
A student under age 24 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), or
Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.

The Residency requirement is also met because the child was under your care and financial support for more than half of the year.

To meet the Support test the child cannot provide more than half of her support for the period in question.

The IRS Rules for Personal Exemptions and Dependents are very detailed. To view the rules and tests for dependency please click on the following link:

IRS Personal Exemptions and Dependents

Here you will be able to view in detail every specific aspect which may apply to you’re the status of your Personal exemptions and Dependents.

J

JaimeGAnswer

Employee

Yes, You can claim Foster children as a dependents as long as they are placed in your care by a placement agency, court order, or any government agency.

Five tests must be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are:

In your case as long as you were ordered by a government agency to care for the child(ren) you have passed the Relationship test,

The Age requirements are as follows

Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly),
A student under age 24 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), or
Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.

The Residency requirement is also met because the child was under your care and financial support for more than half of the year.

To meet the Support test the child cannot provide more than half of her support for the period in question.

The IRS Rules for Personal Exemptions and Dependents are very detailed. To view the rules and tests for dependency please click on the following link:

IRS Personal Exemptions and Dependents

Here you will be able to view in detail every specific aspect which may apply to you’re the status of your Personal exemptions and Dependents.

B

behappy1212

Someone else claimed my foster child I had in my house for 14 months. How do I get this corrected?

S

Stinkerbellkity

Employee

You don't get it corrected. If you meet all the qualifications to claim the child, as listed in the answer below, you file a return claiming the child. If the other person already e-filed claiming the child, you will have to file on paper and by mail. The IRS will review both returns and make a decision as to who gets to claim the child. The person who did not qualify WILL HAVE TO PAY BACK ANY REFUND RECEIVED for the dependent. They'll contact you by mail but it will take up to a year, possibly longer.

B

Bsrbsb

Someone else claimed my foster kids for last year. I claimed them for half a year. I received a letter from the IRS. But I meet all the rules for qualifying. Am I alright?

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

Explain more. You cannot claim a child for "half a year." They are either your dependent for the entire tax year, or they are not your dependent. How long did they live with you?

**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.**

G

Gigi253

If the foster child was in your home for 6 months + 1 day you can claim the child.

If the child was born in the current tax year, then it would be 1/2 their life +1 day.

J

jonyetter33

For the support does the monthly subsidy/reimbursement provided by the state count as the child providing support?

K

KarenM90

No. Payments received by a state agency are counted as the child's total support but are not counted as support provided by the foster parent or the child.

Two other important things to note:

(1) Payments received from state or local governments are generally not included in the taxpayer's income.

(2) An exemption may be claimed for a foster child only if the child is a qualifying child or a qualifying relative. (See the link below)

Qualifying Child and Qualifying Relative

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

M

Maureen ML

So I'm clear. We can clain that we supported the child during that period?

A

ash_mstera

Foster baby born on 5/30/20. Placed with us 6/1/20. If we have her through the rest of year. Can we claim her on next years tax filing? Technically we would have her for 30 weeks in 2020 which is more than half a year if you go by weeks

RobertG

Yes, you can claim the child. The rule is: "The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year".

IRS Publication 501, Page 11.

@ash_mstera

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B

Batyari

My nephew was placed with us on sept 30th, however through out this year but we have taken care of him over 6 months would I still be able to claim him even though he was not legally placed until 09/30?

macuser_22

Employee

@Batyari wrote:

My nephew was placed with us on sept 30th, however through out this year but we have taken care of him over 6 months would I still be able to claim him even though he was not legally placed until 09/30?

Yes. If he meets the other requirements for a Qualifying Child. A nephew does not need to be a foster child to meet the requirements.

---Tests To Be a Qualifying Child---
(Must pass ALL of these tests)

NOTE: If a child passes all of these tests he must say “yes” on his/her own tax return (if he/she files one) that another taxpayer CAN claim him/her as a dependent even if they DO NOT claim him/her)

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother,stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of 2019, (b) under age 24 at the end of 2019 and a full-time student* for any part of 5 months of 2019, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled and must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly).

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service).

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2019_publink1000171012

5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.

6. The child is not filing a joint return.

7. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico

*A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year.

See IRS Publication 17 for more information.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

K

Kaely0987

What if the foster child(ren) have had multiple placements and no one had them for 6 months. However we had them the longest of all the placements during 2020, and still currently have placement?

macuser_22

Employee

If the child did not live with anyone more then half the year, then nobody can claim. Physically living with the taxpayer more than 183 nights in the tax year is a requirement to claim a qualifying child.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

L

Lovingsitter4u

I live in California, I have 2 fosters placed in my since July 5th 2020 and they are currently still placed with me (3/14/2021).

5 months in 2020

3 months so far 2021

Would I claim them for 2020 or 2021?

Also what would I need when filing? There Social security? Birth cert.? Ect.

T.I.A.

macuser_22

Employee

@Lovingsitter4u wrote:

I live in California, I have 2 fosters placed in my since July 5th 2020 and they are currently still placed with me (3/14/2021).

5 months in 2020

3 months so far 2021

Would I claim them for 2020 or 2021?

Also what would I need when filing? There Social security? Birth cert.? Ect.

T.I.A.

For both years they must live with you more than half the year to claim them (more the 183 days). July 5 is slightly less than a half yea by a few daysr so legally, no.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

S

Slhurst90

I have a question. Ok my children were placed with my mom my the courts right after xmas 2020 until July 16th 2021. So she had them for 6 & a half months and they are now back with me. Since it was court ordered is there a way for her to claim them for the time she had them and then I claim them for the time I have them or does she have to claim them for the whole year? And if she does, will it come back on me since I'm getting the monthly ctc payments for them but I had them back when the payments started?

Any info will help please. We just need to know how we are suppose to go about this.

macuser_22

Employee

@Slhurst90 wrote:

I have a question. Ok my children were placed with my mom my the courts right after xmas 2020 until July 16th 2021. So she had them for 6 & a half months and they are now back with me. Since it was court ordered is there a way for her to claim them for the time she had them and then I claim them for the time I have them or does she have to claim them for the whole year? And if she does, will it come back on me since I'm getting the monthly ctc payments for them but I had them back when the payments started?

Any info will help please. We just need to know how we are suppose to go about this.

A dependent can only be claimed by one tax payer and cannot be split.

See my previous answer - only the parent, or foster parent that the child physically lived with more then half the year (more then 183 nights) can claim.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

Z

zielot111

For the question "Do you have a written or verbal agreement with (FOSTER CHILD)'s other parent about who can claim FOSTER CHILD?" what should be answered there? Since the baby came to our home, we have not heard one word from the bio parents. I have no agreement with them but I was told from the case worker that I can claim the baby. How should this be answered.