Diplomacy & Crisis News

Lifesaving medical supplies reached Afghanistan by air on Monday, the first UN shipment to arrive since the Taliban takeover more than a week ago, as UN human rights experts called on the country's new rulers to live up to their promise to fully protect the rights of women and girls in the country.

La course pour le remplacement de Ban Ki-moon au poste de secrétaire général de l'Organisation des Nations unies a déjà démarré. D'ici à la fin de l'année, le nom du titulaire devrait être connu, au terme d'un processus qui, pour la première fois, a vu se tenir des auditions publiques. L'auteur fut (...) / États-Unis, Coopération internationale, Élections, État, Géopolitique, Mutation, Politique, Relations internationales, Diplomatie, Organisation internationale - 2016/06

Ensuring the right to a nationality and eradicating statelessness is more pressing than ever, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Monday, as it marked the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

As the school year begins for millions of children in Europe and Central Asia, UN health and child experts on Monday issued a series of COVID-19 risk reduction measures to ensure that in-person lessons can go ahead, despite rising infection rates.

Drone strikes over the weekend underscore the changing nature, not the end, of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged countries to fulfil their obligations to prevent and prosecute cases of enforced disappearance, a “cowardly practice” which the COVID-19 pandemic has made even more difficult to combat.

Interrogé en décembre 1998 sur la rareté de l'information internationale dans son journal télévisé, l'un des rédacteurs en chef de TF1 avait répliqué : « Vous voulez des nouvelles sur le Venezuela ? Regardez la chaîne vénézuélienne. Sur le Soudan ? Regardez les chaînes africaines. » Le 24 mars dernier, la (...) / Kosovo, Médias, Réfugiés, Guerre du Kosovo 1999, Infoguerre - 1999/05

With the needs of Afghan children greater than ever before, the world “cannot abandon them now”, a senior official with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday after concluding a visit to the country.

For millions of villagers in Indonesia’s remote areas, a 12-hour-per-day erratic electricity supply is the norm. With students studying by candlelight at night and health centres not running at full capacity, these communities face an uphill struggle to improve their well-being. 

Countries which have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) are urged by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to do so without delay.

Dans les premières années de la révolution russe, une vive effervescence saisit tous les domaines de l'art, et notamment le théâtre. Anatoli Lounatcharski, responsable de la politique culturelle, en fut le garant et l'un des théoriciens. Le réalisme socialiste, promu sous Staline en 1934, y mit un (...) / Russie, URSS, Art, Communisme, Culture, Histoire, Idées, Idéologie, Théâtre, Marxisme - 2016/06

Innovators are joining Paralympians to discuss how sport can help to build a more inclusive society in a series of online discussions organized by the UN to coincide with the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which continues until 5 September.

With medical stocks dwindling in Afghanistan, and insecurity at the airport in the capital, Kabul, following the terrorist attack on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) continues to examine ways to deliver much-needed supplies to the country, a senior official told journalists in Geneva. 

The global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is progressing at “two alarmingly different speeds”, UN agency leaders said in a statement on Friday, noting that less than two per cent of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries compared to almost 50 per cent in high-‑income nations.   

Droite réactionnaire ou droite ultralibérale ? Verdict le 5 juin. Le premier tour de l'élection présidentielle péruvienne a marqué une nouvelle étape du virage conservateur en Amérique latine. À Lima, la formation pilotée par la fille de l'ancien dictateur Alberto Fujimori dispose déjà d'une écrasante (...) / Amérique latine, Pérou, Citoyenneté, Criminalité, Démocratie, Narcotrafic, Élections, État, Industrie, Parti politique, Pauvreté, Personnalités, Politique, Environnement, Répression, Néolibéralisme, Autoritarisme, Corruption - 2016/06

Soucieux de transformer sa richesse en puissance et influence, le Qatar multiplie les opérations de prestige, comme l'organisation de la Coupe du monde de football en 2022. Mais ces grands chantiers publics et leur lot d'accidents ont révélé l'archaïsme et la brutalité d'un système de parrainage des (...) / Golfe, Exclusion sociale, Immigrés, Industrie, Mondialisation, Multinationales, Pauvreté, Syndicalisme, Travail, Violence, Qatar, Esclavage - 2016/06

More girls and boys than ever are on the move, with 35.5 million having lived outside their country of birth in 2020 and an additional 23.3 million displaced internally, according to a new report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published on Friday.

The UN Security Council on Friday underlined the importance of combatting terrorism in Afghanistan following the deadly attack at the airport in the capital, Kabul.   

/ France, Armée, Conflit, Impérialisme, Terrorisme, Tchad, Sahel, Afrique centrale, Afrique de l'Ouest - Afrique / France, Armée, Conflit, Impérialisme, Terrorisme, Tchad, Sahel, Afrique centrale, Afrique de l'Ouest - Afrique

Trevor Filseth

Child Tax Credit,

These payments—particularly for large families—can be worth thousands of dollars.

Here's What You Need to Remember: The increase in the Child Tax Credit will only last until the end of 2021, despite the attempts of some lawmakers to extend it; after this, the payments will return to being worth $2,000 per year and become non-refundable once more. This means that the relevance of the higher payments in future divorce cases is likely to decrease.

The March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) provided for six early payments of the Child Tax Credit, a tax break intended to help cover the expenses of parents with children during the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to March, the credit was set at $2,000 per child per year, and made non-refundable, so parents owing less than $2,000 in taxes would not be able to fully benefit from it.

The ARPA increased these payments by fifty percent, to $3,000 per month. It also added a $600 bonus for the parents of children under the age of six, and it made the tax credit fully refundable, meaning that families who did not owe enough in taxes would receive the difference as a cash payment. Lastly, it arranged for half of the credit to be sent out in the form of six advance checks—the first of which was sent on July 15, and the third of which will be sent on September 15.

These payments—particularly for large families—can be worth thousands of dollars. It comes as no surprise, then, that they often make their way into divorce cases, along with other tax breaks such as the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. In particular, though, the fully refundable status of the Child Tax Credit separates it from other tax credits, which generally require the recipient to work and pay taxes in order to receive the benefit. This means that the Child Tax Credit is increasingly worth fighting over in divorce court.

Given this, rules have been established for how the Child Tax Credit is given out. The recipient must cover at least fifty percent of their child’s expenses and live with them for at least half the year. This usually means that the parent who gains custody of the children will receive the tax credit. There is, however, a form—Form 8332—for parents who willingly give up the tax credit to the other parent, even if they do not technically meet the guidelines required.

One possible reason is that the credit has an upper-income limit. In previous years, this limit has been $200,000 for single tax filers and $400,000 for couples filing jointly. However, the ARPA reduced this level to $75,000 for single filers, $112,500 for heads of families, and $150,000 for couples filing jointly.

In this case, if one person makes $200,000 per year, and the other makes $60,000, it makes little sense for the higher earner to claim the credit since for them it would be worthless.

It is not clear how much longer the current situation will last. The increase in the Child Tax Credit will only last until the end of 2021, despite the attempts of some lawmakers to extend it; after this, the payments will return to being worth $2,000 per year and become non-refundable once more. This means that the relevance of the higher payments in future divorce cases is likely to decrease.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest. This article is being republished due to reader interest.

Image: Reuters