timberld Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I have a question about qualifying child. My client has an agreement with x that he can claim child as a dependant every other year and this is not her year to claim the child as a dependant. Can she still use the child as a qualifying child for any other purposes such as Head of household, Child Tax Credit or EIC? Or is she stuck with single and no credits and misses out on the tax rebate in the summer? She provides half the support and child lives with her 8 mos of the year. Next question is if he is phased out (which he won't tell her if he is she just knows about how much income he has) can she still go for the exemption and let the IRS deal with it?? What do you think??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 YES, she can use the child for HH status and EIC if her home is the main home of the child. Are you suggesting your client to violate a legal agreement or court order? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberld Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I would never suggest to anyone to violate the law and it offends me that you insinuate otherwise. What I was asking, was do the IRS tiebreaker rules apply for the dependancy exemption if the other parent is phased out because of income and also, because she provides the main home for the child that she can file HOH status and for EIC, without using the dependancy exemption and child tax credit. Wow...your pretty harsh there don't you think?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 >>do the IRS tiebreaker rules apply<< The tiebreaker rules are for relatives who live with the child, not separated parents. In accordance with her decree, your client should provide Form 8332 to the absent father for the years he gets the dependent, without making assumptions about his tax return. The form is only for the exemption and child tax credit. It does not affect her eligibility for EIC or Head of Household status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 My client has an agreement with x that he can claim child as a dependant every other year and this is not her year to claim the child as a dependant. Didn't see anything here that mentioned a 'legal' agreement or court order. Eli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I am thinking the same thing as Eli, I did not read "divorce decree" or "legal" in the OP. However, you start pushing on this and a lot of non tax issues are going to land in front of a lawyer if he makes enough that he can be phased out for the dependency exemption. If she wants to open this can of worms, see what the divorce decree says and then look at the collateral damage that might be done to other areas of her life. IF there is no legal obligation, the rules are pretty clear that the parent who has custody more than the other gets the goodies (Dependency, HOH, EIC, CTC). Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I am thinking the same thing as Eli, I did not read "divorce decree" or "legal" in the OP." All of you are right, he didn't mention legal or divorce decree and that's why I asked. Instead of answering my question, he got defensive and offended. Without all the facts on the table, we cannot give answers to questions. And by the way, agreements are binding and orginal poster said "My client has an agreement with x that he can claim child as a dependant every other year and this is not her year to claim the child as a dependant." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 >>agreements are binding and original poster said "My client has an agreement with x that he can claim child as a dependant<< No, agreements are NOT binding. Tax law is binding. Even if there is a court order giving the exemption to the absent parent, he can't prevent the mother from claiming her child if she is eligible under Section 152. He can ask the judge for whatever sanctions, but as long as the custodial parent refuses to sign Form 8332 or equivalent then the absent parent has NO legal grounds for taking the child's exemption on his federal return. Even back in divorce court, the guy probably won't prevail. The decree may say he can take the exemption but it does not make the mother responsible for the accuracy of his return, nor does it require her to sign tax forms as part of his return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberld Posted February 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Okay...time to clarify. First there is no written agreement between the couple, they were never married, and mother is custodial parent. Next, father makes a considerable amout of money each year and is being "nice" when he cannot benefit from the exemption and "allows" mother to take the exemption. This year is his year to claim the exemption and again may decide to be "nice" and "allow" mother to use the exemption if he decides to tell her before she files her return. Now back to the original question of can mother file HOH and take EIC without the exemption because she has a qualifying child? And if she claims the exemption on her return for child and he also claims the exemption will the IRS decide who is actually entitled to the exemption? I really don't see how those questions suggest my client violate the law or court order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Okay...time to clarify. First there is no written agreement between the couple, they were never married, and mother is custodial parent. Next, father makes a considerable amout of money each year and is being "nice" when he cannot benefit from the exemption and "allows" mother to take the exemption. This year is his year to claim the exemption and again may decide to be "nice" and "allow" mother to use the exemption if he decides to tell her before she files her return. Now back to the original question of can mother file HOH and take EIC without the exemption because she has a qualifying child? And if she claims the exemption on her return for child and he also claims the exemption will the IRS decide who is actually entitled to the exemption? I really don't see how those questions suggest my client violate the law or court order. Thank you for the clarification. This was my first answer... "YES, she can use the child for HH status and EIC if her home is the main home of the child." This is true for any year, including the years when the father claims the child. If there is no previous agreement between the parents, then the mother will prevail before the IRS if both of them claim the child this year (please make sure custodial parent didn't sign Form 8332 or equivalent for 2007). Regardless of who supports the child (as long as the child doesn't provide more than 50% for his own support), the mother (custodial parent) will be entitled to the exemption, EIC, Child tax credit, additional child tax credit, Hope credit, Lefe Learning credit and the $300 rebate. If the mother cannot prove that she maintains (more than 50%) her home, which is the main home of the child for 2007, then the IRS will not allow her the HH status, but she will be single, with a dependent and will qualify for all the credits stated above. (I listed some credits that might not apply to this situation but if any of those credits apply, she would be entitled to). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 >>as long as the child doesn't provide more than 50% for his own support<< I also answered the original question about EIC and HoH yesterday. Time to move on. On this question of support, in a case like this it's important to note that although the custodial mother can claim the child regardless of the source of support, the absent parent can only use Form 8332 if one or both of the PARENTS provide more than half. If, for example, mother and child live with grandma or get welfare, there is no possible way for the absent parent to take the exemption. Doesn't matter what anybody agreed to, or even what the court ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timberld Posted February 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Thanks for your answers!!! I thought the HOH and EIC were correct, I just wanted to be sure before I talked to her. The other part was just something I was wondering about because of the situation and we actually haven't even discussed the possibility of claiming the exemption this year without his permission, which according to you she doesn't even need since she is the custodial parent in a written legal agreement and the child lives with her 8 mos of the year with more than enough proof. Thanks again and I'm sorry I got defensive, but it just wasn't a very nice thing to say because I would never do that. So truce okay. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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