Ask The Taxgirl: Qualifying Children & Rebate Checks
Taxpayer asks:
We claimed our son last year on our taxes. Born April 1989. We have a daughter who is 16. We recieved $1500 stimulus check. None for our son and he didn’t get one for himself either. Should he have? Thank you.
Taxgirl says:
Sorry, no. Eligible taxpayers received an additional $300 for each qualifying child. However, to qualify a child must be under age 17 as of December 31, 2007. So, if you claimed your (then) 18 year old son on your return, he would not have qualified to receive a check on his own as your dependent – and you would have not received a payment for him because of his age.
I know, I know. I’ve heard a bunch of complaints about this one…
The fine print
Be sure to read my disclaimer… Remember, I’m a lawyer, and we love disclaimers. But you know who loves them more? My malpractice carrier. Consider yourself warned.
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What if the child is over 17 but disabled?
I haven’t seen anything to suggest that it would be different – but I’ll keep checking.