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claiming kids on taxes

ctedrow's picture

Does anyone's SO get to claim their child(ren) every other year on taxes?? My SDs BM has claimed her every year on top of the large amount of child support my husband is required to pay even though we have her 50% of the time. 

We are currently working towards a better arrangement to reduce child support and actually have our 50% of time with her on record but has anyone had issues adding in altering years to claim for taxes?

 

lieutenant_dad's picture

Technically, the CP gets to claim the child every year, and if the NCP wants to claim them (even with a CO), the CP is supposed to fill out a separate tax form allowing the NCP to claim the child.

In reality, whoever files first gets to claim the kid. The NCP might get in trouble if they claim when they are supposed to, but if the CP claims even though a CO says "odd years are NCP and even years are CP", nothing is likely to happen.

ctedrow's picture

See that is why we are getting it modified. There is no parenting plan through the court system. At the time my husband had 4 days off a month and on those four days they had a verbal agreement that he had my SD. Hence the reason for the outrageous amount in child support paid to the BM.

5 years ago, he switched jobs which drastically reduced his income but allowed him more time at home. Now we technically have my SD just as much as the BM and on some occassions more as we watch her on her mothers weekend when she has to work. (she just recently switched her work schedule to include saturdays)

After many years of me telling him he needs to modify his child support and actually have a custody/parenting plan through the court system, we finally have the funds available to do so.

ndc's picture

DH and BM have 50/50 in their CO.  They addressed taxes by saying that DH would claim one child and BM the other.  They made sure DH had "his" child and BM hers for one more night a year than the other parent, and that way they both had Head of Household status when they were single.  Exemptions are no more, but the Child Credit is still valuable ($2000 for many), so who claims a child for tax purposes is still worth addressing.

Thisisnotus's picture

BM had it in the agreement that she gets to claim them each year...along with max CS and DH having them half the time. Incomes are equal but it’s just another way dad’s get screwed in divorce.

my ex and I have 3 kids so we are on a roatation where one year he claims 2 and I claim 1...then switch.

grace8205's picture

My ex and I had 50/50 custody and we alternated years to claim our son. It was written in the seperate agreement that way. 

 

SMto2's picture

Nope! My DH paid BM $1200 a month for 18 years (it was originally calculated with BM paying her mom $800 for child care and didn't get recalculated after youngest SS started school a year later) and BM claimed SSs on her taxes every year. Knowing she could no longer claim them on her taxes and get her big refund once SSs turned 18 and moved out made having CS end all the sweeter!

Trying to Stepmom's picture

It’s in the CO that the parents switch off who claims.   We were afraid that BM would try and claim on years that weren’t hers, but she hasn’t. 

Rags's picture

Even in 50/50 situations most of the time one parent is stipulated by the courts as the CP. In most cases the CP gets the tax credit for the kid(s). Unless otherwise stipulated in the CO or divorce decree.

Even in situations where one parent is stipulated as the CP or to otherwise have the kid related tax credit the IRS awards it to the parent who files their taxes first if that parent claims the kid.  It is up to the other parent to contest and provide documentation to the IRS if a parent who does not have the right to claim the kid claims the kid in violation to a CO.

Far too often the wronged parent won't bring the pain to bear on the parent cheating on their taxes.

As a CPA my wife sees examples of this with some of her clients nearly every year.  She advises them to go for blood.  This exposes the tax cheat parent to penalties and interest. The IRS is not very tolerant of this kind of crap and will upon occassion flag the offending parent for audit for a number of years after they pull this shit.

In a 50/50 situation requesting the courts to award alternating year tax benefits is a reasonable request. I am not sure what the probability of outcome is for such a request. 

I would make it if I were you.