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Subject Author Date
Head of Household After Divorce Howard 03-25-2007
Posted by Howard on March 25, 2007, 12:07 pm
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 I have a problem that someone on here may have also
experianced.

Lady wants to claim head of household with her qualifying
child who is not a dependant per divorce decree.

According to her; in years past, the father claims the child
on his tax return as a dependant, even though the child
lives with her all year.

Is it possible for the father to be claiming the child as a
dependant and the child still be a qualifying person for
Head of Household for the mother ?

Essentialy what she is claiming is that this one child gives
both parents the ability to file as Head of Household, but
only one, the father per the divorce decree, gets the
dependancy exemptions.

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Posted by A.G. Kalman on March 26, 2007, 11:16 am
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 Howard wrote:

> I have a problem that someone on here may have also
> experianced.
>
> Lady wants to claim head of household with her qualifying
> child who is not a dependant per divorce decree.
>
> According to her; in years past, the father claims the child
> on his tax return as a dependant, even though the child
> lives with her all year.
>
> Is it possible for the father to be claiming the child as a
> dependant and the child still be a qualifying person for
> Head of Household for the mother ?
>
> Essentialy what she is claiming is that this one child gives
> both parents the ability to file as Head of Household, but
> only one, the father per the divorce decree, gets the
> dependancy exemptions.

The lady can file as head of household if she has a
qualifying person living in the household for more than six
months. If the person is a qualifying child, then only she
can file as HOH using that child. The qualifying child for
HOH does not necessarily have to be her dependent. The
father can not file as HOH using that child. The father can
claim an exemption for that child if the mother either 1.
Releases the exemption via IRS Form 8332 or 2. Releases the
exemption using a signed statement that contains the
language of Form 8332 or 3. the divorce decree (post 1984)
contains all four of the following: a statement that gives
the exemption unconditionally to the father; a statement
that the mother will not claim the exemption for the year; a
statement that identifies the year or years; the mother's
signature.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Phil Marti on March 26, 2007, 11:16 am
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> Lady wants to claim head of household with her qualifying
> child who is not a dependant per divorce decree.
>
> According to her; in years past, the father claims the child
> on his tax return as a dependant, even though the child
> lives with her all year.
>
> Is it possible for the father to be claiming the child as a
> dependant and the child still be a qualifying person for
> Head of Household for the mother ?

Yes. In all cases except children of divorced/separated
parents the 5 tax attributes of a "qualifying child" must go
to the same taxpayer. In this case the custodial parent can
give the dependency exemption and child tax credit to the
noncustodial parent while keeping the other three
attributes, one of which is HofH filing status. See IRS
Publication 501.

> Essentialy what she is claiming is that this one child gives
> both parents the ability to file as Head of Household, but
> only one, the father per the divorce decree, gets the
> dependancy exemptions.

No, she isn't. Only she can use the child as a qualifying
person for HofH filing status since the child lives with
her. The child need not be claimed as a dependent.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Mark Bole on April 2, 2007, 6:17 pm
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Phil Marti wrote:

[...]
> Yes. In all cases except children of divorced/separated
> parents the 5 tax attributes of a "qualifying child" must go
> to the same taxpayer.

Per tax court, the exception also includes never-married
parents.

-Mark Bole

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Phil Marti on April 3, 2007, 7:04 pm
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>> Yes. In all cases except children of divorced/separated
>> parents the 5 tax attributes of a "qualifying child" must go
>> to the same taxpayer.

> Per tax court, the exception also includes never-married
> parents.

And, since that TC decision, according to the IRS. Since
they must have been together for at least 30 seconds some
time, unless they've made improvements I haven't heard of, I
consider them separated.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

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