September 25, 2000
(House)
H.R. 5117 - Missing Children Tax Fairness Act of 2000
(Rep. Ramstad (R) Minnesota and 23 cosponsors)
The Administration supports H.R. 5117, which would clarify that a child who
was a dependent of the taxpayer at the time the child was kidnapped from a
family will continue to be treated as the taxpayer's dependent during the
period the child is missing, until he or she reaches age 18. The
Administration believes that it is appropriate to clarify the Federal
income tax consequences to a family when a child is kidnapped, so that the
family's ability to continue to claim a child credit, the deduction for
personal exemptions, and the earned income credit will not be adversely
affected. Questions regarding the Federal tax consequences under different
fact patterns involving missing children have been raised by commentators
recently, and the Internal Revenue Service has not yet issued any official
guidance on this matter. With the clarification provided in H.R. 5117,
families that are subject to the tremendous hardship of a kidnapping will
not also suffer the loss of valuable Federal tax benefits that are
justifiably provided to households with children.
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