810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 1,2003
Kids Korner
Quad Lambs Bom On New Jersey Farm
Quads were born Sunday, Feb. 9, at Main Street Farms,
Pattenburg, N.J. Babies ranged in size from 7-13 pounds.
Amy Voorhees bottle feeds the newborn lambs.
r \ '
DRESS WARM
FOR THE
WEATHER!
JL;, 1
[>e&.
WCA
£>•»»
■toe •lini'Vtf* ._J rI
*<\iU A-1 ry
*«UH f —V I
Wo*" wWie r w
'VT'^
%
Ihi hr^L 1 ' jnd in ihc VMirld Oninlmd uhiJi
u.vei'' ipp i *<4o (KHI mjii m miks Btilux
oMt'inin*. ynu think thu*. is i ulot^nwon
Orunhnd MmiMH-'
ot Ljinnhnd is <.ov<. a d
b> let. DID YOU
KNOW Flu Unik'd
stite*» fried tu buy
C.n i nhnd in
hut Di nmjrk did
not \\ mt to >iell il
at
1 u2iJe« ue piu' idcd t>\ Kidsi illf 11 bhjJur*,
' Fti £?£
'Ssrs*
;, 1 'ys
\ Y fW
.* 1 *> /0t
/ rr' >
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
One of the first signs of spring is
the birth of lambs on farms
throughout the country.
In Pattenburg, New Jersey,
quadruples (four) baby lambs
made their debut into the world
Feb. 9.
Bom on the farm of Don and
Chris Voorhees, the babies
ranged in size from 7- to
13-pounds. The mother ewe is a
six-year-old Suffolk. She needed
some help to feed her hungry ba
bies so the Voorhees daughter
Amy helps by bottle feeding
them.
The lambs are growing well.
Three of them are drinking
8-ounces from a bottle three
times daily.
The lambs were also placed be
neath a heat lamp to provide
warmth during the cold, wintry
weather.
The Voorhees, who have been
raising sheep for 20 years, also
have six other ewes and a set of
twins born about two weeks be
fore the quads.
Here Are Some Tax Treats For Parents
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) With tax time rolling
around, Uncle Sam provides
some tax benefits for families
raising children. For those who
qualify, there are credits for child
care and college savings plans.
However, in order to maximum
your savings, you should do some
planning and pay careful atten
tion to the rules to avoid tax
overpayments.
Tax breaks come in two variet
ies: credits and deductions. Cred
its are more beneficial because
they actually reduce your tax bill
dollar for dollar, while deduc
tions simply reduce your taxable
income. The most valuable tax
advantages available to parents
are: Child Tax Credit, Child
Care Tax Credit, Flexible Spend
ing Accounts, Adoption Tax
Credit, Deductible Medical Ex
penses, College Tax-Savings
Plans, Hope Scholarship Credit,
Lifetime Learning Credit and
Student Loan Interest Deduction.
Child Tax Credit
The Child Tax Credit is a dol
lar-for-dollar reduction in your
taxes. Starting in 2001, Uncle
Sam granted a $6OO tax credit
per child younger than age 17 at
the end of the year. Through
2004, the tax credit stays at $6OO.
In 2005 through 2008, the credit
jumps to $7OO. In 2009, it be
comes $BOO and it hits $l,OOO by
2010. To receive the credit, the
child must qualify as your depen
dent, have a Social Security num
ber and fall within certain in
come limitations.
Child Care Tax Credit
One of the best ways for par-
ents to save on taxes is the Child
Care Tax Credit that gives work
ing parents a credit for some of
their child-care expenses. To
claim the credit, your child must
be younger than age 13 and your
caregiver must be paid on the
books: You’ll have to provide a
Social Security number or tax
payer ID for your caregiver. You
also must include on the return
the Social Security number of the
children receiving the care.
Eligible expenses include: day
care, nursery school, private kin
dergarten, summer day camp, a
licensed toddler program and be
fore- and after-school programs.
The cost of household services
also can qualify as long as the
cost goes at least in part toward
the care of the individual.
Special Note: You can’t claim
this credit if you or your spouse
contributes to a dependent care
flexible spending account (FSA)
at work it’s a one-or-the-other
proposition. In addition, qualify
ing Child Care Credit expenses
are limited to the income you or
your spouse earns from work,
using the figure for whoever
earns less. Under this limitation,
if one of you has no earned in
come, you won’t be entitled to
any credit. There are special rules
that essentially remove this limit
ation for a spouse who’s a hill
time student or disabled.
Flexible spending accounts
If your employer offers a de
pendent care flexible spending
account, you may wish to consid
er participation in the FSA in
stead of taking the Child Care
Tax credit. (Remember that you
can’t use both.) Under a depen-
dent care FSA, you may contrib
ute up to $5,000 on a pretax
basis. Your employer withholds
the contribution from your pay
check and places it with a plan
administrator in a non-interest
bearing account. As you incur de
pendent costs, you submit a
statement with the administrator
substantiating the cost and re
ceive reimbursement.
However, there are some major
drawbacks to dependent care
FSAs. First, you deposit money
in an FSA on a “use it or lose it”
basis. If you don’t incur depen
dent care expenses that equal or
exceed the amount in the FSA,
you forfeit the surplus. In addi
tion, once you elect to participate
and elect the amount withheld,
with limited exceptions, you may
not change your election. Finally,
it often takes several weeks to re
ceive reimbursement for the ex
penses submitted.
In order to determine what tax
benefits you should utilize, con
sult your tax adviser as there are
limitations and rules for both tax
credits and deductions.
Shannon Villa is vice presi
dent, communications and mar
keting for the Pennsylvania
Credit Union League (www.pacu-
Lorg), a statewide trade associa
tion representing credit unions
throughout Pennsylvania. Send
your financial questions to
“Common Cents” do the Penn
sylvania Credit Union League,
P.O. Box 60007, Harrisburg, PA
17106-0007 or e-mail her at svil
la@pacul.org. Visit our Website
(www.pacreditunions.com) to
learn more about smart money
management.