I have recently started paying for child support. I'm paying $331 a month because my child's father makes half of what I do. We are paying my son's paternal grandmother. Now that I have providing support to my child I'm curious how it will affect my income taxes at the end of the year. Is child support tax exempt? Since I'm paying more and providing health insurance for my son does that mean that I'm providing 1/2 of his yearly support and if so can I claim him on my taxes at the end of the year?

I have recently started paying for child support. I'm paying $331 a month because my childs father makes half of what I do. We are paying my son's paternal grandmother. Now that I have providing support to my child I'm curious how it will affect my income taxes at the end of the year. Is child support tax exempt? Since I'm paying more and providing health insurance for my son does that mean that I'm providing 1/2 of his yearly support and if so can I claim him on my taxes at the end of the year?

Depends on the State and the Court Order. How does the Order address the situation?

The paternal grandmother has custody but both you and the father pay support to her? Something else?

I'm not sure that $331/month plus health insurance is more than half of what it takes to raise a child when you consider housing, utilities, food, insurance -

Here's a research starting place - Qualifying Child of More Than One Person (http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=218767,00.html).

The grandparents do not pay rent or have a mortgage, they live in the grandfather's mother's home, they do not have a car payment and neither one has a working income. There was no order addressing the situation. I have contested the amount that I will be paying so we will be seen in court over the situation. I was just curious cause I know that child support is is removed via garnishment from my pay and that it is tax sheltered on the grandparents end.

I also have proof from a previous sworn financial statement that they do not have overhead on their home.

The grandparents do not pay rent or have a mortage, they live in the grandfather's mother's home, they do not have a car payment and neither one has a working income. There was no order addressing the situation. I have contested the amount that I will be paying so we will be seen in court over the situation. I was just curious cause I know that child support is is removed via garnishment from my pay and that it is tax sheltered on the grandparents end.


So there's another party involved - Great grandparents, Grandparents, Mother, Father - ?

At any rate when you go to Court ask that the tax consequences be addressed. That's the only guaranteed way to know who can claim the child.

Its myself, biological mother, biological father and the grandparents. I went to the support office yesterday and they would not address this issue. They said just deal with it. I'm just curious that if I'm paying $461 which breaks down to $331 in support payments and $130 in insurance which was explained to me as 60% of the support order then how to I obtain information on how much it is actually costing them to raise my son. If they have no overhead then their cost of living goes down and well the cost to support him goes down.

Its myself, biological mother, biological father and the grandparents. I went to the support office yesterday and they would not address this issue. They said just deal with it. I'm just curious that if I'm paying $461 which breaks down to $331 in support payments and $130 in insurance which was explained to me as 60% of the support order then how to I obtain information on how much it is actually costing them to raise my son. If they have no overhead then their cost of living goes down and well the cost to support him goes down.


This is an issue for a Judge, not a Support Collection (or other support) office.

It needs to be addressed OR you can all file and let IRS sort it out. I don't recommend it but it's a sort-of solution.

The grandparents as I said before do not pay for rent or a mortgage, they do not have a car payment or pay for health insurance and they do not have my son in a private school. I know how much it costs to raise and house my 2 year old daughter and it just seems ridiculous that the grandparents between myself and the biological father are receiving over $600 a month to take "care" of my son.

It was recently estimated that raising a child to 18 would cost over $280,000. That breaks down to over $15K per year. $600/month is $7200 a year. Now, do you want to tell us again, how that is ridiculous?

Under what circumstances is that? I can tell you that my parents were self employed and we were poor and there is no way in hell that my parents spent $45,000 a year on raise three children! They didn't even make that much. So yes it ridiculous.

How old are you? That number has been going up every year. So it may have been a lot less when you were a child. Also the circumstances are for a single child. Having multiple children doesn't mean you multiply by 3. So $600/mth is not ridiculous.

Under what circumstances is that? I can tell you that my parents were self employed and we were poor and there is no way in hell that my parents spent $45,000 a year on raise three children! They didn't even make that much. So yes it ridiculous.


Unless you were born yesterday this argument doesn't apply.

Anyway - back to the topic. How much have you paid in support over the past 6 years?

Are you in a State where support is a percentage or is there a forumula?

Colorado and they denied my child support for the last 6 years.

It wasn't until the grandfather lost his job and the grandmother still refuses to work after 6 years for them to actually file. I don't understand how an indigent household can support a child. They have NO income!

It's a formula, they take both parents income and deduct support for my daughter which was only $364 a month and then they deduct the health insurance. Without my second child and the health ins. I would be paying over $1000 a month in support. They said it was income based but the woman processing the paperwork couldn't answer any of my questions.

It wasn't until the grandfather lost his job and the grandmother still refuses to work after 6 years for them to actually file. I don't understand how an indigent household can support a child. They have NO income!


Maybe the grandmother is too busy raising your child to work. Lots of mothers who are raising a child or children don't work. The fact that "grand" comes before "mother" doesn't change that.

You seem to resent the very people who have kept your child from going from foster care home to foster care home.

So - you are expecting them to raise your child without any financial help from you? Is that what I'm reading? I'm not sure what your argument is - the dollar amount of support or the fact that you are ordered to pay support.

Why haven't you provided support in the last six years, voluntarily?

For whatever reason I'm not understanding the situation.

If you don't want to pay support allow the grandparents who have raised the child to adopt him/her.

Its not a matter of the money. I don't care about the money. I care about my son whom they've kept me from for years. I do everything in my power to have my parental rights restored and I'm denied. I send them checks in the mail they do not cash. I give them health insurance, clothes, food, I provide a safe and loving home for my son. I've never not supported him. Even with a court ordered visitation schedule they continually deny me visitations. I know that you may never understand what exactly I'm speaking of. I'm just trying to find out what my rights are as far as the legal financial end goes. If I'm providing support to him and they are not, can not financially because they have NO income then how does it break down when it comes to taxes. The rest of the bull is just that and doesn't matter. As far as adoption they won't because they then won't receive support for my son which means one or both would need to get employment and with the grandfather being 1 year away from retirement that's not something they will be doing.

Its not a matter of the money. I don't care about the money. I care about my son whom they've kept me from for years. I do everything in my power to have my parental rights restored and I'm denied. I send them checks in the mail they do not cash. I give them health insurance, clothes, food, I provide a safe and loving home for my son. I've never not supported him. Even with a court ordered visitation schedule they continually deny me visitations. I know that you may never understand what exactly I'm speaking of. I'm just trying to find out what my rights are as far as the legal financial end goes. If I'm providing support to him and they are not, can not financially because they have NO income then how does it break down when it comes to taxes. The rest of the bull is just that and doesn't matter. As far as adoption they won't because they then won't receive support for my son which means one or both would need to get employment and with the grandfather being 1 year away from retirement that's not something they will be doing.


For someone whose interest is not the money, that's what we keep coming back to. And, yes, I probably don't understand, never have lost/given custody of a child to grandparents.

The way I'm reading this the Grandparents have no income (and also no expenses) but you don't want to pay so they won't have that $300+ a month and will raise the child with nothing.

Here is how support is determined in Colorado - https://childsupport.state.co.us/siteuser/do/vfs/Frag?file=/cm:home.jsp

If visitation is court ordered and denied, take them back to Court for contempt. It's just that easy. For that matter go back to Court and get custody of the child. It's not the child's decision nor is it theirs. A child advocate will be appointed to look at the situation from all angles, he/she will make a recommendation, the Judge will decide what is in the best interest of the child.

You can't complain and then do nothing to change the situation when there ARE avenues available to you.

If you get custody the support issue is moot and you can pursue your ex-husband for his share of support.

And totally on another issue - I was raised by my Grandparents. Maybe the child's Grandparents didn't expect to be raising another child at their ages. I look back now and think how difficult it must have been for my Grandparents, raising what was pretty much another family after the first family left the nest, how much they sacrificed - and I never heard one single word of complaint.

I'm not deaf to the issues of Grandparents raising Grandchildren.

Bias opinions mean nothing to me.

Bias opinions mean nothing to me.


It's biased, not bias. If you're going to be sarcastic at least get it right.

You asked a legal question.

The situation is - Grandparents of child have custody (I'm assuming there's a reason, although it is relatively unimportant to this question - other than your reluctance to try to get visitation); no support order until recently and little support until recently; child is 6; you pay $300+ plus health insurance; you think that $300+ is more than the Grandparents need to raise the child; who claims child as a dependent; you're in Colorado; there's a child support formula.

When you go back to Court ask that that determination be made part of the order. My feeling is that the various parties will rotate. If it comes down to it IRS will decide.

You got the legal answer. Get an Order addressing the exemption and/or get custody back and/or surrender the child for adoption by the Grandparents. If they won't let you see the child, go back to Court and ask that they be held in contempt.

I don't know how much you're in the child's life now but in another year or two he/she won't have a clue who you are.

I think the party's over.

Bias opinions mean nothing to me.

What you are really saying is that opinions that don't agree with your view of the world mean nothing to you. And if that is the case, why ask for them?

I sympathize with your issues of visitation and custody. I've tried to help in the other thread. But you can't even tell us accurately whether you have parental rights or not. By the way, it is possible in some states to have rights terminated and still be responsible for support.

I don't recall whether you have an attorney or not. But if money is not an object, then you should have an attorney to represent you in these matters.

.. I care about my son whom they've kept me from for years. I do everything in my power to have my parental rights restored and I'm denied. ... As far as adoption they won't because they then won't receive support for my son which means one or both would need to get employment and with the grandfather being 1 year away from retirement that's not something they will be doing.


I didn't see that you addressed this - I no longer think I'm prying.

Why did you lose custody and why can't you get it back?

How noble of you to be concerned about the Grandfather's retirement.

.... Is child support tax exempt?...

It doesn't work that way. "Tax exempt" would apply to certain items of income. What you pay for child support is obviously not income. The amount of child support you pay is not a deduction (whether you itemize or not), if that's what you mean.

You may, however, count your child as an exemption on IRS Form 1040, line 6 (c) (and thus qualify for more favorable tax treatment), if you pay more than half of his or her support. This is not a detrmination the court makes any more; it would be determined by the IRS should both you and the custodian file, or if you are audited.

How about I compeltely carify everything. Back in 2006 my son was removed from my custody due to the potential of harm from his father. I remained compeltely complaint with treatment throughout the entire court proceeding however since my son's father would not change his address and would not testify in court that he was no longer residing with me I had him formally evicted. That was not adaquate for the case worker involved, she still believed we were living together and in a relationship so they granted permanent guardianship to the paternal grandparents. No termination of parental rights. Over the next 5 years I worked on my treatment plan that was needed to be completed upon my request for reinstatement of parental rights. As one might know it is very hard to go to psychological counseling, take random drugs testing, have a full time job that warrants the ability to pay for childcare and health insurance all at once. I did exactl;y that. As I said before I sent them checks and clothing and always offered anything I had to them for the sake of my son but was denied that at every turn. The relationship between and the grandparents was always strained due to the fact they knew what my intentions were on regaining parental rights and eventually guardianship. Multiple times they moved and didn't inform myself or the courts. They would stop all contact between myself and my son for months, once it was for over a year. I finally had completely my requirements and we then returned to court. I was told that "it's too little, too late" and "you have no rights to that child" and "if and when my son becomes of age to decide if he would like to reside with you we could take that into consideration". Despite all my efforts and proof of negligent behaviors and potentially dangerous environment in which my son was and is being raised in they still found in favor of the grandparents. After the last court hearing this quickly turned into a fight over money. Literally the day that we all were told that there was really nothing I was capable of doing to restore my parental rights they then filed for child support and with in 4 days the grandfather had either lost or quit his job.
As I said before I don't really care about the money, I really have no choice in the matter considering its directly removed from my pay as a garnishment. What my concern is what kind of life and support my son is actually getting. I know that a lot of my thoughts were scattered throughout this entire conversation. My original question was how does my child support payments affect my income taxes at the end of the year and that if I can prove that I'm providing over half of his support for the year, wouldn't I in fact be able to claim him as a dependent?

My original question was how does my child support payments affect my income taxes at the end of the year and that if I can prove that I'm providing over half of his support for the year, wouldn't I in fact be able to claim him as a dependent?


I posted the IRS site/rules/regulations - I would suggest that you read them. I am not going to read and interpret them for you.

As I said before I was just clarifying. I don't need someone to "interpret" anything for me.

As I said before I was just clarifying. I don't need someone to "interpret" anything for me.


You kept asking so I thought you didn't read it. Do you qualify to declare the child as a dependent/exemption? That's the original question.

It seems clear to me - "In order to declare a child as a dependent, he must no more than 18 years of age at the end of the filing year, or 24 years of age if the child is attending school full time. The child must have lived with the taxpayer for at least half of the tax year, and the taxpayer must have provided at least half of the child's support. A child cannot be considered a dependent if he is being claimed by someone else. A child being claimed as a dependent must be a citizen of the United States."

Half of the year has passed so he CAN'T live with you for at least half of 2012.

It doesn't work that way. "Tax exempt" would apply to certain items of income. What you pay for child support is obviously not income. The amount of child support you pay is not a deduction (whether you itemize or not), if that's what you mean.

You may, however, count your child as an exemption on IRS Form 1040, line 6 (c) (and thus qualify for more favorable tax treatment), if you pay more than half of his or her support. This is not a detrmination the court makes any more; it would be determined by the IRS should both you and the custodian file, or if you are audited.


She started asking about the exemption - I thought that's what she meant.

That's the law that I posted. I just posted it again.

The concern isn't this year and obviously he won't be residing with me and I guess that's where I'm not understanding. It says that the person with whom the child resides and received over half of his support can claim him but his over half of his support next year comes from myself and he still doesn't reside with me does that give myself a chance to claim him as my dependent. It doesn't clearly state possibilities with different circumstances. I guess I should have taken this issue to a tax professional instead of on-line. I was curious and I bit way more off than I can chew when it comes to all of your responses. Sorry for wasting you time.

She started out asking about the exemption - I thought that's what she meant.

That's the law that I posted. I just posted it again.

Thanks. You were more correct than I was. The taxpayer has to have physical custody for at least more than half the year. So it's quite possible that no one could claim the child.

The concern isn't this year and obviously he won't be residing with me and I guess that's where I'm not understanding. It says that the person with whom the child resides and received over half of his support can claim him but his over half of his support next year comes from myself and he still doesn't reside with me does that give myself a chance to claim him as my dependent. It doesn't clearly state possibilities with different circumstances. I guess I should have taken this issue to a tax professional instead of on-line. I was curious and I bit way more off than I can chew when it comes to all of your responses. Sorry for wasting you time.


The Law is clear: "... "THE CHILD MUST HAVE LIVED WITH THE TAXPAYER FOR AT LEAST HALF OF THE TAX YEAR... "

Re-read what I posted.

If he doesn't live with you for at least half of the tax year, you can't claim him - that's this year, next year and until he's 18.