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Claim On Taxes

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CBROWN1205

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Virginia

Mother has full custody,, but father pays over 60% of childs well being,,child support, medical and dental bills. Can he claim the child on his taxes as a dependent??? thanks
 


CBROWN1205 said:
What is the name of your state? Virginia

Mother has full custody,, but father pays over 60% of childs well being,,child support, medical and dental bills. Can he claim the child on his taxes as a dependent??? thanks
I believe it depends, if you two were married, if it states who has the right to claim the child in your divorce decree, and how much time you have the child.

I wasnt married and I am the mother and I have full custody and I was told by my lawyer that I have the right to claim her. On the irs site it says for unmarried parents it doesnt matter how much support the father is paying, the custodial parent has the right to claim the child (unless it states otherwise in a court order or divorce decree). Here is a link that may help.
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/10311g09.html

You could however petition the mother into court to get permission to claim the child.
 

Content

Member
Normally though if the judge does change the order they will make it alternating years so that both parents are able to get the benefits of claiming the child.
 

janedoe23

Member
CBROWN1205 said:
What is the name of your state? Virginia

Mother has full custody,, but father pays over 60% of childs well being,,child support, medical and dental bills. Can he claim the child on his taxes as a dependent??? thanks

So are you saying that the mother only contributes 40% even though the mother has full custody? :confused: Whoever has custody of the child for 6 months out of the year deserves to claim the child.

When it came time to file for taxes my ex would always make it a race to see who can claim the kids first. He always won but I still filed my taxes claiming my kids. Can you guess who the loser was in the end?? Not me! Be careful! If mother doesn't agree to it then you will just get yourself into a huge battle and in the end you will be paying the IRS.
 

brisgirl825

Senior Member
janedoe23 said:
Whoever has custody of the child for 6 months out of the year deserves to claim the child.
CPs do get EIC for having the child living with them for the majority of the year.
 
janedoe23 said:
When it came time to file for taxes my ex would always make it a race to see who can claim the kids first. He always won but I still filed my taxes claiming my kids. Can you guess who the loser was in the end?? Not me! Be careful! If mother doesn't agree to it then you will just get yourself into a huge battle and in the end you will be paying the IRS.
When you did this how long did it take and what proof did you have to have?

I am going to be going through this for the first time this Feb. He will get his w-2 before me so he will win at first.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
CBROWN1205 said:
What is the name of your state? Virginia

Mother has full custody,, but father pays over 60% of childs well being,,child support, medical and dental bills. Can he claim the child on his taxes as a dependent??? thanks
No (I am an accountant and professional tax preparer) In order for him to claim the child mom would either have to give him a signed form 8332 allowing him to claim the child, or there would have to be a valid court order allowing him to claim the child.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
brisgirl825 said:
CPs do get EIC for having the child living with them for the majority of the year.
Assuming that they qualify for EIC. Any single parent making over 30,000 a year wouldn't qualify, and anyone making over 25,000 would get a very small credit.
 

janedoe23

Member
Momto1yrold said:
When you did this how long did it take and what proof did you have to have?

I am going to be going through this for the first time this Feb. He will get his w-2 before me so he will win at first.

My ex claimed our kids 5 years in a row. He always got his forms way before I did. He would file and claim all of them and get a hefty check in which he wouldn't give me anything. Also keep in mind he doesn't pay me a cent in child support. I would still file my taxes as normal but they would tell me my kids were already claimed and that I needed to file by mail.

Some people say it was wrong for me to claim the kids anyway but I knew what i was doing was legal. So finally this last tax season I was notified and was suppose to produce records of the kids in my custody for 3 years. I gave them copies of medical records, prescription fills, shot records, school report cards and I had to write a letter of why there was 2 people claiming the kids. After all that they dismissed me and now he no longer gets a refund check until he pays the IRS which is over $15,000. Sucks to be him but oh well I have no pity.
 

wrkngmom

Member
I'm in PA and can only speak from my experiences.

JaneDoe does the same thing that I have done for the past 8 yrs. She lives with me, I have primary custody and he has visitations. I claim her on my taxes. I have never had anyone (IRS nor acountant) question this. He pays child support and although I can not prove it, I believe he has claimed her on his taxes. It is not a first come firt gets to claim basis, I've been told by attorneys and accountants that it is the primary CP.
 
wrkngmom said:
I'm in PA and can only speak from my experiences.

JaneDoe does the same thing that I have done for the past 8 yrs. She lives with me, I have primary custody and he has visitations. I claim her on my taxes. I have never had anyone (IRS nor acountant) question this. He pays child support and although I can not prove it, I believe he has claimed her on his taxes. It is not a first come firt gets to claim basis, I've been told by attorneys and accountants that it is the primary CP.
If he did claim her as well, believe me the IRS will catch it. Your daughter's social security number on your return will cross reference with his return.
 
B

betterthanher

Guest
LdiJ said:
Assuming that they qualify for EIC. Any single parent making over 30,000 a year wouldn't qualify, and anyone making over 25,000 would get a very small credit.
Not to jack this thread, but is child support calculated into this to determine of the parent is eligible for the EIC or does it go strictly on taxable income? Also, does the amount of credit depend on the income or is it a set amount (i.e. child dependency credit of $3100).
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
betterthanher said:
Not to jack this thread, but is child support calculated into this to determine of the parent is eligible for the EIC or does it go strictly on taxable income? Also, does the amount of credit depend on the income or is it a set amount (i.e. child dependency credit of $3100).
It goes strictly on "earned income". (with some exceptions...but its still all regarding taxable income) CS is not included.

No, its not a set credit. Its based on earned income. Its like a bell shaped curve. It starts out with a low amount of credit for low income, gradually increases until income peaks between 11k-15k and then gradually decreases as income increases up to 30k. (34k for married filing jointly)
 
B

betterthanher

Guest
LdiJ said:
It goes strictly on "earned income". (with some exceptions...but its still all regarding taxable income) CS is not included.

No, its not a set credit. Its based on earned income. Its like a bell shaped curve. It starts out with a low amount of credit for low income, gradually increases until income peaks between 11k-15k and then gradually decreases as income increases up to 30k. (34k for married filing jointly)
I always wondered about that. Thank you.
 

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