The Sins of the Taxpayer

Reading about the tax code (which, incidentally, makes a career in data entry sound like fun) dredged up this interesting line, in relation to the federal income tax child credit. The footnote reads,

"Some taxpayers with children qualify for both the child credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, but the two provisions have different definitions of 'child.'"

Different definitions of child? It's true that two Americans, depending on their religion and creed, might have different definitions of immorality, bravery, marriage and the phrase
"enemy combatant." But to quote Justice Potter Stewart's famous line, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." Majority of Americans probably feel the same way about children. Too bad the IRS can't adopt the same standard.

(By the way, was anyone else disturbed that I adapted a quote about porn and applied it to kids? Because looking back, I kind of am.)