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tax deductions?

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seanandlynn12

Junior Member
What is the name of your state?IL

I have been living with my finacee for three years . he has done so much for my kids. there dad only pays 680 a month to me and my fiancee takes care of alot of the rest plus what i give to the household. but my ex is trying to obtain the kids as tax deductions. according to the tax law the person has to be living in your home and paying for more than 50 percent of the children welfare. my ex make only 28000 a years my fiancee makes 50,000 who should get them or one is nessary :confused:
 


S

sparky31676

Guest
Research For Illinois

seanandlynn12 said:
What is the name of your state?IL

I have been living with my finacee for three years . he has done so much for my kids. there dad only pays 680 a month to me and my fiancee takes care of alot of the rest plus what i give to the household. but my ex is trying to obtain the kids as tax deductions. according to the tax law the person has to be living in your home and paying for more than 50 percent of the children welfare. my ex make only 28000 a years my fiancee makes 50,000 who should get them or one is nessary :confused:
Which parent gets to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit for the children?

A parent or parents with dependents (children) may qualify for a refundable tax credit called the Earned Income Tax Credit or EITC. To qualify for the EITC, the parent or parents must have provided a home for one or more dependents for over six months of the applicable tax year, and file taxes either jointly or as head of household. The maximum EITC that a parent or parents can claim is $2,547 for one dependent and $4,204 for two dependents. The EITC begins to phase out with income above $13,730. A parent cannot sign the right to claim the EITC to a non-custodial parent. Individuals with adjusted gross incomes less than $11,230 also may qualify for a small EITC.

If both parents qualify for the EITC based on the same dependent(s), the parent with the greater income will get the credit. This would come into play if the parties lived together with the child or children for more than six months, separated, and got divorced before December 31 of the tax year.
Which parent gets the dependent exemption for a child?

The dependent or personal exemption for children is a deduction from income for each qualifying dependent. To qualify as a dependent, a child must be under 19 years of age, or under 24 years and a full-time student. The child must receive over one half of his support from one or both parents, and be in the custody of one or both parents for more than one half of the year.

If there is no agreement or court order otherwise, the custodial parent gets the dependent exemption for any child in his or her custody. However, a custodial parent can agree to sign over the exemption to the other parent, or can be ordered to sign over the exemption as part of a divorce judgment. For a non-custodial parent to claim the dependent exemption, the custodial parent must sign IRS Federal Form 8332.

For the tax year 2003, the maximum exemption is $3,050 for each qualifying dependent, and phases out, depending on filing status, with individual income over $100,000, and joint income over $200,000. The exemption is valuable to a taxpayer only if he or she actually pays some federal income tax.

The child tax credit provides a taxpayer with a credit up to $600 for each child under 17 years of age. The child tax credit goes to the parent who gets the dependent exemption for the child. A portion of the credit is refundable. Beginning in 2004, the credit is scheduled to phase out as the income increases.
Which parent gets to claim child care and medical expenses for a child?

Child care credit: A taxpayer can claim a credit up to $3,000 for one child (defined as a dependent under 13 years of age) and $6,000 for two children for child care expenses incurred in working or looking for work. This credit is available to the custodial parent only. The credit phases out as the income increases.

Deduction for medical expenses for a child: Either parent can deduct medical expenses that he or she paid for a child, regardless of who has custody or gets the deduction for the child. To claim a deduction for medical expenses, the taxpayer must itemize his or her deductions and have medical expenses in excess of 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.
 

Phnx02

Member
seanandlynn12 said:
What is the name of your state?IL

I have been living with my finacee for three years . he has done so much for my kids. there dad only pays 680 a month to me and my fiancee takes care of alot of the rest plus what i give to the household. but my ex is trying to obtain the kids as tax deductions. according to the tax law the person has to be living in your home and paying for more than 50 percent of the children welfare. my ex make only 28000 a years my fiancee makes 50,000 who should get them or one is nessary :confused:
You don't say how many kids you have, but $680 a month in CS is no small chunk of change.....especially if the father is only making $28K a year! Your fiance cannot take the deduction because he is not the father of the children. Doesn't matter if he's contributing (alot) to the household, if he's not the father, he cannot claim the kids.

As far as who gets to take the deduction - you or your ex - it all depends on what your divorce papers say. The general rule is the CP gets the deduction simply because tax law says in order to take the deduction, the child must live with the parent more than 50% of the time and parent provides more than 50% of his/her support. Usually, these circumstances belong to the CP. However, any court can order something diffrent.....sometimes whichever parent makes more money in any given year is allowed the exemption, while sometimes the parents are allowed to "take turns" - alternating years who gets to take it. It depends on what your divorce papers state.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Phnx02 said:
You don't say how many kids you have, but $680 a month in CS is no small chunk of change.....especially if the father is only making $28K a year! Your fiance cannot take the deduction because he is not the father of the children. Doesn't matter if he's contributing (alot) to the household, if he's not the father, he cannot claim the kids.

As far as who gets to take the deduction - you or your ex - it all depends on what your divorce papers say. The general rule is the CP gets the deduction simply because tax law says in order to take the deduction, the child must live with the parent more than 50% of the time and parent provides more than 50% of his/her support. Usually, these circumstances belong to the CP. However, any court can order something diffrent.....sometimes whichever parent makes more money in any given year is allowed the exemption, while sometimes the parents are allowed to "take turns" - alternating years who gets to take it. It depends on what your divorce papers state.

Uh, sorry....wrong

The boyfriend certainly CAN take the children as exemptions if he can legitimately demonstrate that he provides more than 50% of their support. He cannot take the child tax credit or the EIC, but he CAN take the exemption. He can also claim mom as a dependent as well if she earns less than 3100.00 a year.

Since dad only makes 28,000...with that level of child support, I suspect he is paying on at least 3 kids. That amount of child support doesn't go very far for three kids...so its quite possible that the boyfriend could legitimately demonstrate that he provides more than 50% of their support.
 

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