Among the administrative procedures to be carried out from the birth of a child, parents must notify many organizations: CAF, CPAM, mutual … Good news, the tax administration is not one of them! To benefit from the tax reduction applicable for dependent children, parents declare the birth at the time of their annual declaration.

To declare the birth of a baby to taxes, it’s very simple. Parents refer to the second page of their income tax return, box C. They indicate the number of dependent children as well as their years of birth. For the declaration in year N of income for year N-1, the children born in year N-1, regardless of the date of birth, count for the calculation of the number of tax shares. For example, a baby born on December 31, 2016 counts for the 2017 return of 2016 income.

The number of tax shares (or family quotient) is a determining factor in the amount of tax. The larger it is, the less tax the taxpayer pays. The arrival of a new dependent child is one of the factors increasing the number of shares.

Parents receive an additional half share for each of the first two dependent children. From the third, they benefit from an additional portion per child. A disabled child is entitled to an additional half share.

To increase the family quotient, the child must be dependent on his parents. There is no distinction between biological children or not. Minors under the age of eighteen on January 1 of the year on which the income is taxed are considered as dependent children, with some exceptions:

• If the minor child has personal income, the parents can either add it to their own income or request a separate tax. In this second hypothesis, the child no longer counts as a dependent giving rise to the right to an increase in the family quotient and a reduction in the amount of tax.
• If the parents are subject to a separate tax regime, the minor child only counts as a dependent for the benefit of a parent.

A child who dies in the year on which the income is taxed is considered a dependent.

Married or PACS parents who are subject to a common tax system fill out an income statement in which they indicate the number of dependent children. But when the parents are neither married nor in a civil partnership, and they are subject to a separate tax regime, which parent declares the birth to tax to benefit from the increase in his family quotient?

• The parents live in cohabitation (or free union): the child can only be declared for tax by one of the two parents.
• The parents are separated or divorced: the child is declared for tax by the parent with whom he usually resides and who is responsible for it. If the other parent pays alimony to cover maintenance and education costs, they can deduct the amount from their taxable income.
• The child lives in alternating residence: the parents both declare the child to be dependent but each parent receives only half of the child’s tax shares for the increase in his family quotient.
• The child has changed his habitual residence during the year: in the year of the move, the parents both declare the child to be dependent and both benefit from the increase in their family quotient.
• The parent is widowed: the widowed parent declares his child dependent and receives an additional share.

In addition to a tax reduction due to the increase in their family quotient, young parents can benefit from a tax credit for the care costs of their young child. The employment of a childminder or a home nanny, for example, gives rise to a tax credit of up to 50% of the expenses incurred.