| In this day and age, we all struggle to maintain our | | | | qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit. |
| households and put away a little something for a rainy | | | | Full time college students can generally be listed as |
| day. Nowhere is this struggle often more realized than | | | | dependents on their parents' income tax return. Be |
| in the home of a single parent. The federal | | | | aware, however, that the student cannot claim |
| government recognizes the difficulty of raising children | | | | themselves as an exemption on their own income tax |
| on your own and offers some tax deductions | | | | return if they are being claimed as a dependent by a |
| specifically designed to help single parent households. | | | | parent. |
| Most single parents are entitled to a $1000 tax credit | | | | There are several other tax credits and deductions for |
| per child. The credit is reduced for households earning | | | | which you may qualify as a single parent. One of the |
| upward of $75,000 annually. Primary parents get the | | | | best ways to determine what your legitimate credits |
| use of this credit. In the event of equally shared | | | | and deductions can amount to is to use a tax |
| custody, parents can alternate the credit from year to | | | | software program, such as Turbo Tax. |
| year. | | | | Tax software programs will ask you questions and |
| The Child Care Credit is applicable for single parents | | | | use prompts to help you find all of the special |
| who must hire someone to care for their children | | | | deductions and credits for which you qualify as a |
| when the parent is working. The credit can be as high | | | | single parent. If you are attempting to determine |
| as $3000 for one child, and $6000 for two. In order to | | | | whether it is best to file itemized deductions on your |
| claim the credit, the parent must record the tax ID | | | | return or file a standard deduction instead, let the tax |
| number of their child-care provider on their income tax | | | | software program calculate your taxes both ways. |
| return. | | | | The result with the lowest liability or highest refund is |
| The Earned Income Credit is a refundable tax credit | | | | the one you will want to use when filing your income |
| that was designed to offset the expense of social | | | | tax return. This procedure greatly simplifies the |
| security taxes for moderate and low-income families. | | | | process of finding your single parent tax deductions |
| You can fill out a questionnaire at the Internal Revenue | | | | and determining how much they will help you lower |
| Service website to determine if your household | | | | your tax liability. |