Qualifying Children

A qualifying child must be:

• Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing a joint return)
• Under age 24 at the end of the year, a full-time student for at least five months of the year, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing a joint return)
• Any age and permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year

A qualifying child must be any of these:

• Your son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child or foster child
• Your brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepsister or stepbrother
• Your grandchild, niece, or nephew

Adopted Child Definition

An adopted child is a child who is lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

Foster Child Definition

For the Minnesota Child Tax Credit, you can only claim a foster child that is placed with you by any of these:

• A State or local government agency
• An Indian tribal government
• A tax-exempt organization licensed by a state or an Indian tribal government
• A court order

A qualifying child must live in the same home as you in the United States for more than half of the tax year. The United States includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. military bases. It does not include United States possessions such as Guam, the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico unless on a military base.

Birth or Death of a Child

If the child was born or died during year  and they lived with you for more than half of their life during that year, this is considered more than half of the year when qualifying for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit.

Temporary Time Away from Home

If your child was temporarily away from home, it is considered time lived with you. Temporary absences may include, but are not limited to:

• Illness or hospitalization
• School attendance, vacation, business, or military service
• Detention in a juvenile facility
• Kidnapping

If a child can file a joint return with another person, you may not be able to claim them as a qualifying child.

To be a qualifying child for the Child Tax Credit, your child must not have filed a joint return with another person to claim any tax credits. Your child can file a joint tax return only to get a tax refund on tax withheld from their paycheck.

When two or more people can claim a qualifying child, these tiebreaker rules would apply:

• If only one person is the child’s parent, the parent may claim the child
• If the parents file a joint return together and can claim the child as a qualifying child, the parents may claim the child
• If the parents do not file a joint return together but can both claim the qualifying child, the parent with whom the child lived longest during the year may claim the child
  • If the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time, the parent with  the highest adjusted gross income (AGI) during the year may claim the child.
• If no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child, the person with the highest AGI during the year may claim the child
• If the parents choose not to claim a qualifying child, the person with the highest AGI during the year may claim the child, but only if that person’s AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent who can claim the child