Last Baby of the Year Yields Biggest Tax Savings in a Struggling Economy01-05-09_Last_Baby__New_Years_Babies-1.doc
Ochsner and H&R Block Celebrate the Last Baby, a.k.a. Tax Break of 2009
Last Baby of the Year Yields Biggest Tax Savings in a Struggling Economy
NEW ORLEANS, LA – It’s always the first baby of the New Year that grabs media headlines, but as our nation faces financial challenges, a Gretna, LA, family is celebrating their last tax break of 2008. Ochsner and H&R Block welcomed 6 pound, 5.8 oz., Lyndell Franklin, who was born at 12:47 p.m.on December 31st, and is the last baby of 2008 at Ochsner Medical Center on Jefferson Highway. All babies born before the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve mean thousands in saving on 2008 tax returns in the form of a retroactive tax exemption.
“Mere minutes can mean major tax saving to parents,” says Courtney Goldstein, Office Leader at H&R Block. “To get that same tax break, parents of babies born after midnight on January 1, 2009 will have to wait until they file their 2009 taxes to get the same exemption.”
In addition to an exemption worth $3,500 in 2008, new parents may qualify to claim two other credits that could further reduce 2008’s tax liability.
-The Child Tax Credit is worth as much as $1,000 per child, regardless of whether taxpayers file as a single or jointly. To qualify, parents must have earned income of at least $8,500. And, even parents without any tax liability may be eligibly for this refundable credit.
-The Earned Income Tax Credit is available to lower-income workers. The amount of the credit varies with the income, the number of qualifying children and whether a single or joint return is files. EITC is also a refundable credit so it can reduce a taxpayer’s liability below $0, resulting in a refund.
-For future years, taxpayers who pay someone to look after their baby while they work or look for work may qualify for the Child Care Credit. Income limitations apply to this tax benefit so a tax or financial professional should be consulted about individual tax situation.
For more information about the tax benefits of having a child or for other year-end tax tips, visit http://www.hrblock.com
Not to be forgotten, Ochsner’s New Year’s babies began in duplicate at 9:04 a.m. and 9:06 a.m. on January 1, 2009, at Ochsner Medical Center – Kenner, with twin boys weighing 2 pounds, 12 ounces, and 2 pounds, 11 ounces: Dereck Antonio Lopez and Devin Antonio Lopez. Proud parents are Roberto Lopez and Yesenia Arguello of Kenner.
Other Ochsner New Year’s babies include:
-10:40 p.m.: Ochsner Medical Center on Jefferson Highway congratulates proud parents Angela and Michael Hromanik of New Orleans, who welcomed their second baby weighing 6 pounds, 6 ounces.
-2:15 a.m.: Ochsner Medical Center – West Bank in Gretna, LA delivering a baby boy weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce.
-8:29 a.m.: Ochsner St. Anne General Hospital in Raceland, LA welcomed a baby girl weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces named Annalise Maria Noel Adams. Proud parents are Cory and Amy Adams and it’s the couple’s fourth baby.
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