Head of Household After Divorce

Taxes General Forum - Tax professionals meeting place and answers to queries. (Moderated) 

Yahoo!   Google   Windows Live   del.icio.us   digg   Netscape

Subject Author Date Head of Household After Divorce Howard 03-25-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce A.G. Kalman 03-26-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Phil Marti 03-26-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Mark Bole 04-02-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Phil Marti 04-03-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Bill 03-26-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Phil Marti 03-27-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Bill 03-28-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Phil Marti 03-30-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Phil Marti 03-30-2007  Re: Head of Household After Divorce Rod 03-26-2007
Posted by Howard on March 25, 2007, 12:07 pm Please log in for more thread options 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 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 A.G. Kalman on March 26, 2007, 11:16 am Please log in for more thread options 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 Please log in for more thread options > 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 Please log in for more thread options 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 Please log in for more thread options >> 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. >> << ======================================================= >> Similar Threads Posted Head of Household April 11, 2008, 12:22 am Head of Household - Should I use it? February 25, 2009, 9:19 pm Head of Household Status February 17, 2008, 10:52 pm Parent Head of Household June 20, 2008, 4:28 pm Head of HouseHold Status December 30, 2008, 11:00 am Foreign Resident Head of Household April 16, 2007, 4:44 pm Head of Household for Mother of disabled son? January 11, 2010, 11:40 pm Calif "Senior Head of Household vs. TaxCut February 26, 2008, 5:40 pm California FTB Auditing Head of Household Returns August 7, 2009, 11:00 am Last year's state refund: from filing jointly to head of household February 5, 2007, 1:31 am