Question

Bob is 46 and made $45,000 in wages in 2017. he divorced in 2014 and has not remarried. he pays all the cost of keeping up his home. bob's daughter, joan, lived with him all year. joan is 27, single, and had no income in 2017. she is not disabled. joan's baby, sara, was born in november 2015. sara lived in bob's home since birth. bob provides more than half of the support for both joan and sara. bob, joan, and sara are all u.s. citizens with valid social security numbers. 5. who can bob claim as a qualifying child(ren) for the earned income credit?
a. bob has no qualifying children.
b. bob can claim joan, but not sara.
c. bob can claim sara, but not joan.
d. bob can claim both joan and sara.

Answer 1

Bob can claim Sara, but not Joan. To qualify for the Earned Income Credit, a child must be under the age of 19 (or under 24 if a student) or disabled, a child or direct descendant including grandchildren, living as a resident in your home with you for over half the year, having a valid social security number, and not claimed by someone else. Joan is not disabled or under 19, so she does not qualify. Sara is a direct descendant of Bob under 19 with a valid SSN who lives with him more than half the year, so she qualifies as long as Joan does not claim her.

Answer 2

According to the IRS, children under 19, or under 25 if they go to school full time, can be claimed, also grand children, siblings, nephews or nieces If they live with a relative for more than 6 months, are under 19 and no job.  so Bob can claim sara, but not joan.