Can I claim my child's interest income?

Use Form 8814 if you elect to report your child's income on your return. If you do, your child will not have to file a return. You can make this election if your child meets all of the following conditions.

-The child was under age 19 (or age 24 if a full-time student) at the end of the tax year. If the child turned 19 during the tax year, the child is not under 19.

-The child's only income was from interest and dividends, including capital gain distributions and Alaska Permanent Fund dividends.

-The child's gross income was less than $11,000 for the tax year.

-There were no estimated tax payments made for the child (including any overpayment of tax from his or her prior year return applied to estimated tax).

-There was no Federal income tax withheld from the child's income.

You must also qualify. See Parents Who Qualify To Make the Election below. To make the election, complete and attach Form(s) 8814 to your tax return and file your return by the due date (including extensions). A separate Form 8814 must be filed for each child whose income you choose to report.

Parents Who Qualify To Make the Election

You qualify to make this election if you file Form 1040 or Form 1040NR and any of the following apply:

-You are filing a joint return with the child's other parent.

-You and the child's other parent were married to each other but file separate returns and you had the higher taxable income.

-You were unmarried, treated as unmarried for Federal income tax purposes, or separated from the child's other parent by a divorce or separate maintenance decree. You must have had custody of your child for most of the year (you were the custodial parent). If you were the custodial parent and you remarried, you may make the election on a joint return with your new spouse.

But if you and your new spouse do not file a joint return, you qualify to make the election only if you had higher taxable income than your new spouse.

Note: If you and the child's other parent were not married but lived together during the year with the child, you qualify to make the election only if you are the parent with the higher taxable income.

For more information, please see Form 8814 Instructions.