Answers to the Family Tax Credits Questions You Didn’t Even Know You Had

This post is the third in a series of weekly posts containing tax information and filing tips. Check back next week for our next post, or click here to read past posts.

For those of you who work with families needing information on personal income tax credits – which may include your own – you may have a lot of questions. NWLC can help.

NWLC has one-page fliers that give basic information on three federal tax credits that benefit low- and moderate- income families - the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and similar state credits. .

And if you need more than the basics (like the name and maximum value of a particular credit) to answer your questions, the NWLC has more resources for you.

In these documents, we answer commonly asked questions such as:

• How much is the credit worth? Is it refundable?
• How do I know if I qualify?
• Did the “fiscal cliff” deal affect these credits this year?

But we also have you covered on extra tricky questions, like:

• The tax filer has custody of his or her child but is releasing his or her claim to the dependency exemption for 2012 for that child to the noncustodial parent. Can the tax filer claim the tax credit?
• Will a family’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, SNAP/Food Stamps, or other government benefits be affected if the family receives an Earned Income Tax Credit refund?

Check out our Questions & Answers documents for the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the EITC, for the answers to these questions and more.

For more information about helping families learn about these, and other family tax credits, please take a look at our Toolkit for Advocates. Other resources are available on www.nwlc.org/loweryourtaxes, including information on free tax preparation services. Thanks for helping make sure that families get the credits they deserve this tax filing season.