I have a 3 year old little girl. I live in the state of Oklahoma. Me and her daddy were never married. He is threatening to take me to court and get the order to claim her every other year on taxes. Does he have the right to do this? I am the sole custodian and he has only actually taken her about 6 weekends this past year. Am I worrying about nothing? I want to claim her because it sure helps me being the single mother of 3 children.
2006-11-17 20:29:40 · 9 answers · asked by hip_n_hapnin_lpn 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Since you were never married, the IRS law states that the custodial parent (the one whom spends more days with the child) has first right to claim the child as a dependent along with all of the credits and exemptions therein. You could voluntarily give up this right if you sign a special form, but if you don't want to give up the right, you don't have to. I've never heard of a non-custodial parent who was never married to their spouse successfully suing to claim a child on taxes. They may sue for custody and win, but as long as you are providing the custody, they can't claim the child....even if they pay 100% of the child's support.
Look at Publication 17, page 26 under Residency Test.
2006-11-18 02:07:58 · answer #1 · answered by TaxMan 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Paying child support doesn't give you any special privileges on taxes. The federal government doesn't give a rat's behind. He can try to get the exemption, but I seriously doubt he'll succeed. Since your child lives with you more than 50% out of the year and you provide support. FYI, the non-custodian's child support doesn't count. The parent paying child support also doesn't get to deduct this from his taxes either.
And you do not have to prove how you spend the majority of your time and or child support on your little girl. Unless he has a problem with how you're spending the child support, even then that's a state problem not federal.
Don't let him intimidate you. TaxMan is absolutely right!
2006-11-18 10:35:00 · answer #2 · answered by Celeste 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
IF he goes to court and gets the right to claim her every other year, it is only for her dependency expemtion and child tax credit. You would sign a form called an 8332 and give it to him in just the year he wants to claim her. He would then take that to his tax preparer and if they know what they are doing, they will know what to do with it. He would get to claim dependency and child tax credit, you would get claim head of household, EIC and child care credit. EIC (earned income credit) stays with the person the child lives with. If your daughter does not live with him more than six months out of the year, the by IRS law, he CANNOT claim EIC on her. The most you would lose on her would probably be 1,000 dollars. That is just an estimate though. Personally, if I was in your situation and qualified for EIC, I would let him claim her every other year because EIC is worth a heck of alot more than child tax credit.Hope this helps.
2006-11-20 00:41:44 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should be alright if you have sole custody.
As long as she lives with you for at least 6 months out of the year, which you far exceeded,he cannot claim her.
So far as court goes it seems if he should win anything it's the right to pay child support,if he doesn't already.
2006-11-17 20:40:29 · answer #4 · answered by bigjim2k3 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here is the thing... It mostly depends on whether or not he pays his support. If he pays then yes he has a good chance of getting to claim her every other year. If he doesn't pay though, he isn't going to be able to get that benefit at all. Most states do it this way so the bio father does get some credit for paying his support.
2006-11-17 21:16:11 · answer #5 · answered by neinmom2one 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
How precisely was your ex given the right to claim her? It might or might not be valid. The parent who claims the exemption gets the child tax credit. The parent the child lives with gets EIC, head of household status, and dependent care credit if any of those apply.
2016-05-22 00:27:47 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If he pays you support, he does have the right to try. BUT then it is your opportunity to document how much YOU spend on her and how she spends 99.9% of her time with YOU.
And on a positive note, if you win the right to claim her every year, if he tries any funny-business, you've got a court order on your side :)
2006-11-18 07:04:49 · answer #7 · answered by nova_queen_28 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
you may claim your daughter as a dependent if she lived with you for more than half of 2006. you are entitled to file as head of household. you may also be entitled to claim child tax credits, credit for child care expenses and the earned income credit.
2006-11-18 00:17:31 · answer #8 · answered by tma 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont worry let him try, he will be made the fool and have to pay for it too
2006-11-17 20:33:09 · answer #9 · answered by corinne_29_ 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋