There is a fundamental dif between incentives and penalties. Every deduction or credit is an incentive in some degree or another. The only penalty that I can think of on the tax form is for taking money out a retirement plan early… and that is more in the nature of a disincentive. The tax law doesn’t mandate anything other than general compliance.
Yeah, but not a 17-year old. And a 17-year old child is already old enough to lose the credit. Maximum age of the child for the credit is 16.
You are correct. The Child Tax Credit is an above the line credit that changes the AGI. It is not a tax deduction. However, my point still stands. However, paltry the credit is, I believe it similar to the ACA “mandate”. In order to get the credit, I must have a child under the age of seventeen. If I don’t have such a child (and in 2012, I won’t), then my tax goes up. If I don’t have a qualifying health insurance policy, then my tax goes up (if ACA were in effect). If the Child Tax Credit is okay, then the ACA mandate should be okay, too. If the ACA mandate is not okay, then there is an awful lot in the tax code that should be tossed out as well.
I suppose that at 16, I should make the boy go out and get a job. Foolish me, thinking that his education was more important. Here in Texas, the governor and legislature are making it quite clear that his education is not important at all.
And this is a decision you have to pay for. So what?