New for 2009: Definition of A Qualifying Child

If you are figuring out your estimated tax payments for 2009, there are some new and/or updated factors that the IRS suggests you consider. Here’s a list of all of the areas in which there are estimated tax changes for 2009.

In an effort to keep you as well-informed about estimated taxes as possible, we are going to explain each of the new rules in a series of posts published in the coming weeks.

The topic for this post is the definition of a qualifying child. The IRS has made the following changes to the definition of a qualifying child:

• Your qualifying child must be younger than you
• A child cannot be your qualifying child if he or she files a joint return, unless the return was filed only as a claim for refund.
• If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person’s adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any parent of the child.
• Your child is a qualifying child for purposes of the child tax credit only if you can and do claim an exemption for him or her.