Ask Me Help Desk - Claiming children on taxes

Claiming children on taxes

Hi I am a single father in the state of Indiana who has been split from the mother of two of my children for some time now and my question is do I have more of a right to claim my 2 boys on taxes since I pay support but I lost one of my jobs here awhile back which has put me behind on support by just a couple of hundred dollars but my ex does nothing for income but receive child support and food stamps and also tanf, I know she only worked about MAYBE 2 months out of the whole 2008 year. So who has more of a right to claim me or her since I am behind on support?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wraith82

Hi i am a single father in the state of indiana who has been split from the mother of two of my children for some time now and my question is do i have more of a right to claim my 2 boys on taxes since i pay support but i lost one of my jobs here awhile back which has put me behind on support by just a couple of hundred dollars but my ex does nothing for income but recieve child support and food stamps and also tanf, i know she only worked about MAYBE 2 months out of the whole 2008 year. so who has more of a right to claim me or her since i am behind on support?

Which party took care of the major portion of supporting the children?

Filing taxes and dependents are usually listed in your divorce/separation papers.

"Under the special IRS rule, a divorced parent is considered the custodial parent, and can claim the child as his or her dependent, if he or she had physical custody of the child for most of the year. The custodial parent is also assumed to have provided most of the support for the child during the year, and, therefore, is entitled to the tax credit.

The other parent is considered the noncustodial parent because he or she didn’t have custody, or had custody for the least amount of time during the year. Although, the noncustodial parent can’t claim a child as a dependent, he or she may be entitled to the tax credit under one of three conditions:

1) The noncustodial parent gets a written statement from the custodial parent indicating that the custodial parent will not claim the credit. An IRS Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, can also be used to transfer the rights to the credit.

2) The custodial parent relinquished his or her right to the credit for the tax year by signing an agreement executed after 1984.

3) The custodial parent relinquished his or her right to the credit by signing an agreement executed prior to 1985, but not modified after 1984, and the noncustodial parent provided at least $600 of support to the child during the year.

In each of these conditions, the credit can be transferred for any number of years, as stated in the written agreement. However, the original document must be attached to the noncustodial parent’s tax return for the first year the credit is claimed, and a copy must accompany each subsequent return for every year the noncustodial parent wishes to claim the credit."

http://www.essortment.com/career/div...axsup_sykz.htm

Child support is not deductible for the payer, nor income for the payee.

For claiming dependent exemptions for your children, they must live with you for more than half the year, be under 19, and you must provide more than 50% of their support (and be current).

However, in the case you described, generally the custodial parent has the dependent exemption unless other arrangements were legally agreed to in a separation.

It is her right to claim the child(ren) as the custodial parent unless otherwise agreed to in the Marital Settlement.

Also, if you are behind in child support payments they can garnish any refund that you may be entitled to for 2008 and credit your child support arrearage. Depending on your state and how your child support is handled.

Normally child deduction is part of the child custdy agreement or parenting plan. In mine it is every other year.

If there is no plan in place the parent who provided more than 50 percent of the child's needs, and child support is not deductable and is not normally considered more than 50 percent of the chids needs

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athos

Child support is not deductible for the payer, nor income for the payee.

For claiming dependent exemptions for your children, they must live with you for more than half the year, be under 19, and you must provide more than 50% of their support (and be current).

However, in the case you described, generally the custodial parent has the dependent exemption unless other arrangements were legally agreed to in a separation.

Was he asking about the deduction or the exemption?

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Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

Was he asking about the deduction or the exemption?

I'm not sure what the point of your question is, but, to answer it, he was asking about the exemption. I included the info about support because I thought it was germane - especially since he said he was behind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Athos

I'm not sure what the point of your question is, but, to answer it, he was asking about the exemption. I included the info about support because I thought it was germane - especially since he said he was behind.

The point of my question was to see if I misunderstood what the OP was asking - and it's been known to happen.

I'm a father that lives in New York an I pay child support my girl an I'm caught up on it she comes over 3 times a month four 3-4 days an I buy her cholths 3 time a year do I have the right 2 cliam her *** help