Can He Claim Her On His Taxes?

Question

My daughter lives with me Her father is in the marines and he wants to try to claim her on his taxes yes he pays child support but she has lived with me from day one i have been told by several people that he can't claim her.

He saw her for the first time when she was 5 months old not because we weren't together but because he didn't want anything to do with her. He was court ordered to pay child support and he got almost 4 months behind he never sees her which is by his choice cause i have always left the option open if he wants to come get her for a few hours or even to spend the day with him thats fine and he knows that his family knows that too we have been down to Georgia to see them so it's not like we hate each other or that this is just something out of spite it's just his attitude towards his daughter and the thought of being a father,

Answer 1

No, not if she doesn't live with him. IRS website covers this pretty clearly, actually, as does TurboTax if he's using that at all.

Answer 2

I take it you weren't married then? I know my divorce papers actually state that my ex gets to claim our child on even years ONLY if his child support is current at the end of the year. If he's behind then you shouldn't have anything to worry about, but a good suggestion would be having some sort of agreement drawn up to avoid confusion in the future.

Answer 3

He can claim her as a dependant if you do not because the child support pays for much of her living costs. However, your claim has priority because she likely lives with you for more than 50% of the year. You can also claim her for Earned Income Credit because she lives with you for more than 50% of the year. If you are using a simple tax software like H&R Block's Taxcut they explain the rules about dependants and when you can claim them in simple and easy to understand terms. A website is the source for below.

The key appears to be time spent living with one parent or the other. Preference goes to the parent whom she lives with the longest.

To claim a dependant child:

To be claimed as a qualifying child, the person must meet four criteria:

Relationship — the person must be your child, step child, adopted child, foster child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these (for example, a grandchild or nephew).

Residence — for more than half the year, the person must have the same residence as you do. (More than half a year means, at minimum, six months and one day.)

Age — the person must be

* under age 19 at the end of the year, or
* under age 24 and a be a full-time student for at least five months out of the year, or
* any age and totally and permanently disabled.

Support — the person did not provide more than half of his or her own support during the year.

Answer 4

Unless there's something in writing like a court order that he can claim her, or you've signed an IRS form allowing him to claim her, no he can't. If you're the custodial parent, then you have the right to claim her. This is true whether he pays child support or not.

Answer 5

Physical custody is the main factor in determining who gets to claim her. In this case: You.

The fact that he pays child support in no way means that he automatically gets to claim her. You would have to assign the dependency to him via form 8332 which you probably don't want to do.

Answer 6

I just read yesterday that the tax breaks go to the CUSTODIAL parent, unless you make a different arrangement. Thats teh State of Florida though....others may be different.

Answer 7

No, he can't claim her. If she lives with you full time, he can't claim her. Doesn't matter if he pays child support or not.

Answer 8

whoever has legal custody of her is the person to file her on their taxes if yall are not married.

Answer 9

No, if you are her primary residence, he cannot.