Originally published at: State of Georgia says you can claim embryo on your taxes as a dependent | Boing Boing
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The stupidest timeline continues to unwind before our eyes.
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So if you miscarry, you’ll also be charged with tax fraud as well as murder.
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Multiple “miscarriages” could be downright profitable. IIRC fetal survival at six weeks, all else equal, is far short of 100%.
ETA: $HERSELF (former med tech) adds that even if you go searching for an embryo in the discharge, needles in haystacks are much easier than embryos amongst the bloody clots.
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I mean, I GUESS they’re following through.
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Probably not unless you’re claiming a bunch of embryos made for IVF, but even then that’d be fraud because it asks for a detectable “heartbeat”.
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In principle, I don’t see anything wrong with giving pregnant people a tax exemption, given the cost of giving birth and the lack of paid parental leave, though I suspect there are more efficient ways of helping those who need it most.
But we all know this is nothing to do with helping people, and everything to do with showboating for the Handmaid’s Tale crowd.
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But then a woman should not need to file a state tax return as they are considered property, not people.
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This should make audits interesting.
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I read an article this morning about scientists turning stem cells from mice into artificial “embryo models” - mice embryos, complete with a heartbeat. They’re intended to be used to grow replacement organs, they’re not viable for creating clones. No sperm. No eggs. This may well turn out to be another medical miracle outlawed by the anti-abortion crowd.
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So in Georgia, if a pregnant person is really 2 persons, does that mean that they have to pay 2 green fees to play golf? Or do they get a group discount? Do they have to buy 2 airline tickets to fly? Can they legally drive in the car pool lane?
I haz questions.
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“detectable human heartbeat (which may occur as early as six weeks’ gestation)” isn’t a real thing.
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All jokes aside, anything that works toward a Personhood Amendment sort of legislation is a walking nightmare. This is not a good thing in any way, just another step toward dehumanization of pregnant people (and then potentially pregnant people)
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This is ripe for tax fraud. If you know you’re moving out of state before the next tax year, gin up some fake evidence of pregnancy and get your $3K exemption. After you move out of state there’s no way they will follow up to verify a continued pregnancy, miscarriage or birth.
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That is your major concern here? Really?
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Don’t be silly. This is for the property owner, ie, the man, of course. He will have two dependents in that one body he owns. /s
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Curiosity got the better of me so I looked up the federal rules for a child that dies. It appears, at least for federal rules that a miscarriage would still be eligible if Georgia follows federal guidelines. But federal guidelines require a social security number for the child. I wonder when Georgia will require getting a social security number for a fetus. Since the Georgia law believes the fetus is a living person these rule could apply to Georgia’s definition of a child.
It’s a tad morbid but there are rules.
Question
My child was born and only lived 40 minutes. Can this child be my qualifying child for the earned income credit and the child tax credit?
Answer
Yes, if you meet the requirements, you may claim:
1. The Earned Income Credit
Generally, a child must live with you in the United States for more than half of the tax year to be a qualifying child. You may treat a child who was born alive or died in 2021 as having lived with you for more than half of 2021 if your main home was the child’s main home (or would have been) for more than half of the time he or she was alive in 2021. Whether your child was born alive depends on state law. (I wonder what that means)
The earned income credit requires that you provide a valid social security number (SSN) for your qualifying child. If you meet all of the other requirements to claim this credit, and your child was born and died in 2021 and didn’t have an SSN, instead of an SSN, you may enter “DIED” on line 2 of Schedule EIC (Form 1040), Earned Income Credit and attach a copy of the child’s birth certificate, death certificate, or a hospital medical record showing a live birth. For 2021 and future years, singles and couples who have SSNs can claim the credit, even if your children don’t have SSNs. In this instance, you may be eligible for the earned income credit available to childless workers.
2. Dependency and/or Child Tax Credit
Generally, the child must live with you for more than half of the tax year to be a qualifying child. You may treat a child who was born alive or died in 2021 as having lived with you for more than half of 2021 if your main home was (or would have been) the child’s main home for more than half of the time he or she was alive in 2021. Whether your child was born alive depends on state law.
If you meet all of the other requirements to claim the child as a dependent, you usually must provide a taxpayer identifying number (TIN) for the child. If your child was born and died in 2021 and didn’t have an SSN or other TIN, instead of a TIN, you may enter “DIED” in column 2 of the Dependents section of Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return or Form 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors and attach a copy of the child’s birth certificate, death certificate, or a hospital record showing a live birth.
The child tax credit requires that you provide a valid SSN for your qualifying child. If you meet all of the other requirements to claim this credit and your child was born and died in 2021 and didn’t have an SSN, instead of an SSN, you may enter “DIED” on column 2 of the Dependents section of Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR and attach a copy of the child’s birth certificate, death certificate or a hospital record showing a live birth.
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Among all the other dystopian points raised here, this also feels like a trap to get people to report their pregnancies to the government as early as possible, which seems like a terrible idea under the present circumstances. Even if in specific cases people see the trap for what it is and avoid it, this still normalizes the idea that it is law enforcements’ business if you are pregnant.
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