My ex wants to claim my older son as a dependent for 2007 so my ex can file as Head of Household and save $4700. My son turned 18 last year, lived with me about 90% of the year and did not earn any significant income. It's obvious to me that my ex cannot legally claim him (but I can). I do not want to do anything illegal. I would be fine with it if it were legal, as my ex offered to pay me what I would save by claiming my son. But it IS illegal.

My ex has stated he will hold up another agreement we have been working on and which is all worked out and important unless I agree to let him claim our 18 year old as a dependent. How can I get him to let go of this idea? I wanted to tell him what the penalties for us would be, so he would take it more seriously, but I couldn't find them at the IRS website.

Does anyone here know?
Asking

They just make you pay back the money they sent to you.

First is it not a little late to first be fighting as to who will claim.

But in the orginial custody agreement was there a clause as to who gets to claim the child or children on their taxes, often an agreement in custody sets forth how claims child on a given year ( even if not the one who should be the one claiming)

But in general if you are suppose to claim him do so, and work it out with the IRS.

To file as Head of Household your ex must have a "qualifying dependent" living with him for more than half the year. So the question is - who did the child live with? Also, since the child is over 18 and not in school he cannot be a dependent if he made over $3,400 - that doesn't seem to be the case here, but be aware that if he gets a job this year that could affect the situation.

Have you already filed your taxes for 2007? If I were you I would claim the child as your dependent. The IRS will note the discrepancy between your return and your ex's, and will investigate. If your husband can't show that the child lived with him for half the year, the IRS will deny him filing as HoH.

As for negotiating a deal with your ex - it is not unusual for ex's to work this out. In other words, perhaps your ex could file as Single but claim the son as a dependent. Obviously you would agree to this only if it was worth losing the deduction. But even then your ex should be filing as Single, not HoH (I am assuming here that he does not have other qualifying dependents that are living with him).

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

First is it not alittle late to first be fighting as to who will claim.

But in the orginial custody agreement was there a clause as to who gets to claim the child or children on thier taxes, often an agreement in custody sets forth how claims child on a given year ( even if not the one who should be the one claiming)

But in general if you are suppose to claim him do so, and work it out with the IRS.

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Fr. Chuck,
Thanks, but you have misunderstood my question. We are not "fighting." He made a proposal. But I don't think we can do it without getting into trouble. I want him to accept that it's serious to engage in tax fraud.

It is not too late, because I filed for an extension and will not file until September and he can amend his return if need be.

We are not limited by the original marital settlement agreement because we can amend it if we both agree to do so.

BUT his proposal is illegal. He has no dependent who qualifies him as Head of Household. Our son lived with me and was not supported by his father... He was claiming him when he provided his support, but when he ceased to pay child support after his 18th birthday, he couldn't claim him anymore.