Claiming a child on taxes.

[tayeliz]

HELP! I have a daughter and me and her father are no longer together. I have been claiming her on my taxes for her whole life. I just received a letter from her father saying that I have been doing so illegaly and he claims to be paying more than I do to care for her. He says if I don't let him claim her for the next couple years he will turn me into the IRS which will result in many fines. I was under the impression that since I have FULL custody of her I'm supposed to claim her without a doubt. Someone please help me out with this one. I live in Pennsylvania.

 

[Hannahd]

I live in Indiana. Are you divorced? or never married to him? If you were not married to him you would have full right to claim your child. But, if you are divorced then the judge should have told you who was to claim the child or each of you were to trade of years. Does he pay child support if not at all then he probably won't have the right to claim her anyway. At least not in my state. I would contact your lawyer who handled the divorce.

 

[lcollins]

Check out www.irs.gov also. Generally, in any situation, the person who the child lived with for a majority of the year, claims the child as a dependent, for head of household, and EIC. Unless, he has a court document, or you signed a form 8332, he cannot claim the child as a dependent unless he can prove he pays more than 50% of her support. My ex and I alternate years, but I get to use my child to claim EIC and file head of household every year because she lives with me more than 6 months out of the year, I only get the dependent deduction every other year because it's written in our divorce decree. If you were not married, he cannot claim the child without any of the forms I listed above. If you are divorced, it should have been adressed in your divorce decree.

 

[DailyDrama]

lcollins, if I am currently paying more than 50% and it is stated in the child support order that I am paying more than 50%(I can prove it) do I have to have the above said form signed by custodial parent? If so, can a judge order the cp to sign it, or do I go through the IRS?

 

[lcollins]

If the dependent is a resident of the US, is your child, and cannot claim themselves on their tax return, then the parent who provides the majority of the support gets to claim the child as a dependent. Check out www.irs.gov search for Seperated or Divorced spouses. Generally the CP is the one who is assumed to provide a majority of support of the child. However there are exceptions. If you can show that you provide the most support, then I believe you get to claim the child without having to have a form 8332 or divorce decree. You can always call the IRS help line (on the website) and ask a representative if you qualify to claim the child.