Tracy's Tax Tips

As promised here are Tracy's Tax Tips from Friday.  Tracy is going to be joining the show each Friday, giving us her weekly dose of reality.  Taxes, they are a certain thing, and she certainly knows what she is talking about.

As posted earlier at www.foxbusiness.com but just in case you missed it:

While your kids clearly aren't going to save your hairline, they might actually save you some money.

To start, you'll get a $1,000 child tax credit dependent child under age 17 as long as your adjusted gross income  doesn't exceed $110,000 as a married couple or $75,000 as a single person. 

Then, if you pay someone to watch your kids, ages 13 and younger, so you and your spouse can work or go to school, you may also qualify for the child and dependent care credit. That could be as much as $1,050 for one kid and $2,100 for two or more.

So add up those daycare or after-school care costs. And if your kids went to day camp this summer so you could work, incorporate those costs too. Don't bother with sleep-away camp, though. Uncle Sam considers sleep away camp a luxury, not a necessity. (Does he have kids?)

To calculate your credit, include up to $3,000 of your annual expenses for one child, or up to $6,000 for two or more kids.

CC