divorce/ftp child support/arrears/tax deduction

[LdiJ]

Watch out - fairisfair will be calling you retarded next.

I am not worried about it. But I am worried about people misunderstanding her and thinking that a state court judge can overrule the IRS. Those kinds of statements can and will cause people serious grief with the IRS.

When I answer these kinds of questions I try to be very specific about what the IRS will do, and what a state court judge is likely to do in response.

Ohiogal and I were just discussing on another thread how people agree, or judges order them to file joint returns for years that they simply MAY NOT do so....and what kind of IRS trouble that can cause.

There are all kinds of things that state court judges order, or attorneys insist be including in agreements, that are totally illegal under the tax code, and there is absolutely no way for the other parent to comply, or for the judge to enforce.

Some people reading this thread are going to read that "the judges orders take precedence over the IRS rules and regulations"...stop there, and then get themselves in a world of hurt with the IRS.

Yes, a judge can and will take action to punish a parent who does not sign form 8332 allowing the ncp to claim the exemption for the child when its the ncp's turn to do so....but that is the only power that the judge has when it comes to taxes....and judges may not have that power for very much longer, since the IRS has been hinting for a long time that they intend to do away with form 8332 entirely. The intent is to force the state courts to deal with the tax exemption within the child support calculation instead.

 

[mcnamajp]

Dependant Tax Deduction, IRS 8332, Arrearage

I was divorced in 1998 in Connecticut. The divorce decree stipulated that I claim my son and my ex-wife (custodial parent) claim my daughter on our taxes. The conditional statement was added "...provided Husband has made all child support payments as ordered by the court for the tax year in question" and we would exchange forms 8332 to accomplish the allocation for tax purposes.
In 2004 I fell behind on my child support due to going on disability. I met with child support services, an agreement was made in court to pay by garnishment the amount currently due for support going forward and an additional payment to go to the arrearage. I thought this put me in good standing and I never missed any payments from then through the present.
Recently a judge gave all of the tax deductions for my son to my ex-wife for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 not because I didn't make the "current" support payments (I did) but because there was still an arrearage existing from 2004 for those years. Is this interpretation correct? This baffled me because the current year tax deduction contingency was "provided Husband has made all child support payments as ordered by the court for the tax year in question". This decision results in the loss of several thousand dollars in tax deductions - my loss her gain- plus I have repaid the original $4500. It seems strange to me that the arrearage from 2004 for which monthly payments were being made would cause me to lose future years of the tax deduction for my son on my taxes. If this is correct or incorrect can anyone direct me to CT statutes that cover this?

 

[LdiJ]

I was divorced in 1998 in Connecticut. The divorce decree stipulated that I claim my son and my ex-wife (custodial parent) claim my daughter on our taxes. The conditional statement was added "...provided Husband has made all child support payments as ordered by the court for the tax year in question" and we would exchange forms 8332 to accomplish the allocation for tax purposes.
In 2004 I fell behind on my child support due to going on disability. I met with child support services, an agreement was made in court to pay by garnishment the amount currently due for support going forward and an additional payment to go to the arrearage. I thought this put me in good standing and I never missed any payments from then through the present.
Recently a judge gave all of the tax deductions for my son to my ex-wife for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 not because I didn't make the "current" support payments (I did) but because there was still an arrearage existing from 2004 for those years. Is this interpretation correct? This baffled me because the current year tax deduction contingency was "provided Husband has made all child support payments as ordered by the court for the tax year in question". This decision results in the loss of several thousand dollars in tax deductions - my loss her gain- plus I have repaid the original $4500. It seems strange to me that the arrearage from 2004 for which monthly payments were being made would cause me to lose future years of the tax deduction for my son on my taxes. If this is correct or incorrect can anyone direct me to CT statutes that cover this?

Please copy and past this post to a new thread of your own. Its improper netiquette to use or hijack someone else's thread to ask a question of your own.