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of the kidnapping or following the date of the child's return. The child must be presumed by law enforcement authori- ties to have been kidnapped by someone who isn't a member of your family or the child's family. This treatment applies for all years until the child is returned. However, the last year this treatment can apply is the earlier of: 1. The year there is a determination that the child is dead, or 2. The year the child would have reached age 18. If your qualifying child has been kidnapped and meets these requirements, enter “KC,” instead of a number, on line 6 of Schedule EIC. Joint Return Test To meet this test, the child can’t file a joint return for the year. Exception. An exception to the joint return test applies if your child and his or her spouse file a joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. Example 1—Child files joint return. You supported your 18-year-old daughter, and she lived with you all year while her husband was in the Armed Forces. He earned $25,000 for the year. The couple files a joint return. Be- cause your daughter and her husband file a joint return, she isn't your qualifying child. Example 2—Child files joint return to get refund of tax withheld. Your 18-year-old son and his 17-year-old wife had $800 of wages from part-time jobs and no other income. They don't have a child. Neither is required to file a tax return. Taxes were taken out of their pay, so they file a joint return only to get a refund of the withheld taxes. The exception to the joint return test applies, so your son may be your qualifying child if all the other tests are met. Example 3—Child files joint return to claim Ameri- can opportunity credit. The facts are the same as in Example 2 except no taxes were taken out of your son's pay. He and his wife aren't required to file a tax return, but they file a joint return to claim an American opportunity credit of $124 and get a refund of that amount. Because claiming the American opportunity credit is their reason for filing the return, they aren't filing it only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. The exception to the joint return test doesn't apply, so your son isn't your qualifying child. Married child. Even if your child doesn't file a joint re- turn, if your child was married at the end of the year, he or she can't be your qualifying child unless: 1. You can claim the child as a dependent, or 2. The reason you can't claim the child as a dependent is that you let the child's other parent claim the child as a dependent under the Special rule for divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart) descri- bed later. Social security number (SSN). To claim a higher EIC credit amount based on a qualifying child, that qualifying child must have a valid SSN issued on or before the due date of your 2021 return (in- cluding extensions), unless the child was born and died in 2021 and you attach to your return a copy of the child's birth certificate, death certificate, or hospital records showing a live birth. You can’t claim a higher EIC credit amount on the basis of a qualifying child if: 1. The qualifying child's SSN is missing from your tax re- turn or is incorrect; 2. The qualifying child's social security card says “Not valid for employment” and was issued for use in get- ting a federally funded benefit; or 3. Instead of an SSN, the qualifying child has: a. An individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), which is issued to a noncitizen who can’t get an SSN, or b. An adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN), issued to adopting parents who can’t get an SSN for the child being adopted until the adop- tion is final. If you have more than one qualifying child and only one has a valid SSN, you can use only that child to claim a higher EIC credit amount. For more information about SSNs, see Rule 2. If you have a child who meets the conditions to be a qualifying child for purposes of claiming the EIC, but that child doesn't have a valid SSN, you may be eligible to claim a self-only EIC. Rule 9—Your Qualifying Child Cannot Be Used by More Than One Person To Claim the EIC Sometimes a child meets the tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person. However, only one of these per- sons can actually treat the child as a qualifying child. Only that person can use the child as a qualifying child to take all of the following tax benefits (provided the person is eli- gible for each benefit). 1. The nonrefundable child tax credit, credit for other de- pendents, refundable child tax credit, or additional child tax credit. 2. Head of household filing status. 3. The credit for child and dependent care expenses. 4. The exclusion for dependent care benefits. 5. The EIC. CAUTION ! TIP Chapter 2 Rules if You Have a Qualifying Child Page 13