- 8 -
definition, (2) to increase taxpayer compliance by reducing
intentionally improper foster child claims, and (3) to provide
the Internal Revenue Service with a clear subset of claimed
foster children who fit within the definition of “eligible foster
child”.
Applying these considerations to the facts of the case at
hand, there appears to be no likelihood of unintentional or
intentional error in petitioner’s claim, in the sense that there
is no reasonable possibility that anyone else is claiming the
children as dependents; in fact, they are petitioner’s
dependents, as respondent concedes. Furthermore, both
preexisting requirements for qualification as a foster child--
care for the children as one’s own child and the sharing of the
principal place of abode for the entire year--continued to be
satisfied during the taxable year in issue.
Notwithstanding these considerations, the new provision of
the 1999 Act is clear on its face and leaves no room for
interpretation in its application to the case at hand. The
children have not been placed with petitioner by an agency of the
State of Mississippi or one of its political subdivisions or by a
tax-exempt child placement agency licensed by the State of
Mississippi, nor by a Mississippi Chancery Court. See LW v.
C.W.B., 762 So. 2d 323 (Miss. 2000). Nothing in the Joint
Committee Print or the 1999 Act as written suggests the new rule
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011