Amount for Children $2000 denied makes no sense!

[paris]

Originally Posted by dadtotheend

The equivalent to spouse credit, now called an amount for eligible dependant translates to around $1,500 in tax relief. Only one child can be claimed under this rule.

The $2,000 amount for children under 17 translates to about $600 in tax relief per child under 17.

The original post says that he is losing out on $30K of tax relief. That cannot be correct.

I think he's adding up the $2,000 for the next 15 years.

[dadtotheend]

Originally Posted by paris

I think he's adding up the $2,000 for the next 15 years.

OK that makes sense, although it puts the significance of the number a little more in perspective.

The amount for an eligible dependant used to be called equivalent to spouse. The intent of this rule was to give single primary caregiver parents the same tax relief that would have been available had there been a spouse present with virtually no income.

Now that joint custody and shared parenting schedules are far more common, it certainly does seem to be a fair and progressive change to eliminate the existence of support payments as a disqualifer in making this tax claim. In contrast to years ago, support payments in these cases are more an attempt to equalize standards of living as opposed to be an indication of who is doing most of the parenting

That thinking has already been adopted by allowing caregivers to share the Child Tax Benefit on a rotating basis when the parenting schedules are between 50%-50% and 60%-40% either way. The existence of support payments does not disqualify a parent here.

Which means it's time to hit up your MP to push for this change if you're in that situation, or even if you just want to do it for the common good