I had my taxes done feb 5.

I told my X in November that I would be claiming all the kids..no reply

at end of dec he sent me a note saying he was claiming 2, I could claim one. No mention of the note I sent him. He mentioned also that he had had his deductions from his payroll changed in anticipation of this and he needed to claim 2 to "break even" (BTW..he has been on 3 vacations that I know of last year, one including a cruise and bought a house with OW)

went on in note to say how HE DECIDED we would handle it next year

I did not reply

When I had my taxes done, tax guy called 2 days later and said I couldnt e file because someone had already used my sons SS#. He advised me to still mail it in unchanged, I would get the deduction as I have the bragging rights.

Kids live with me, I get 250/wk child support. He has them on his insurance for health

I have 1500$ mortgage, I pay for food, oil, electric, phone, water med copays and prescript co pays for kids (he did give me $100 towards that last week which is first time in 2 years that he did that)

Q..should I do as tax guy said, or change it to just the one deduction for me. I assume X e filed and probably has a refund already.

If I mail it in unchanged, will I be audited?
Would we have to go to court?

I really dont want a hassle with my X, I just want what is rightfully mine. I would recieve a MUCH NEEDED 2000$ refund if I let it stand. If tax guy changes it, I dont know what if any I would get back


For next year, I plan to address this issue in court, it wasnt written exactly in my D papers who claims who, and I didnt know that it was customary for custodial parent to be able to claim. But that doesnt help me for now.

same thing happened to my sister. She tried to e file and it was rejected because her ex used both the kids as an exemption too. She happens to work for lawyers and asked them. Her attorney told her to paper file and claim the kids. IF and WHEN it gets audited, she has proof that she pays over 50% support and livig with her is just about enough proof of that.
Now, that happened to another couple I know and the ex finally got caught by the IRS .... he had to pay taxes for all those years he did that.
I say you do as my sisters attorneys told her --- paper file and claim the kids. If the tax exemption isn't specified in the divorce papers, and they live with you, I say your going to have the rights to claim them. HE will be the one that will have the burden of proof.

I also am the custodial parent...and I get to claim all 4 of my kids.

I think my ex has also tried to claim the kids...but my lawyer said that he will eventually be audited.

Pat

I had a similar question here earlier and was told (also by my lawyer, I might add) that the IRS gives the tax exemption to the parent who pays the most financial support, which in many cases is the dad, since they usually make more than the mom.

HOWEVER, that said, this fall was passed THE WORKING FAMILIES TAX RELIEF ACT of 2004, which states that whomever has primary physical custody of the children is the parent who claims them.

Look into this. I am still innegotiations with STBX and I will be demanding to claim the children.

cm

I am in the middle of waiting for a response on my audit. The second one in 5 years. I am reasonably certain the first one was a difference in alimony claimed by both parties.

The IRS told me the audit on my 2003 return was a routine audit and no one had claimed my children but I do not fully believe that.

I had to provide proof I own my home, proof of utilities (I also provided proof of when property taxes went into my name only and that I have paid them each year.) I had to provide birth certificates for both children and letters from their schools stating where the records indicated they had lived during the year. I also had to provide a copy of my decree stating that I have primary care though we have joint custody and a copy of the court ordered name change I did after the divorce.

The documentation was not difficult to put together. It was not a happy Thanksgiving weekend for me. Again, it wasn't hard to get this stuff just wearying.

I am hoping to hear something soon. I need the money.

<small>[ February 20, 2005, 06:54 PM: Message edited by: cinderella ]</small>

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by sunrise1:
<strong> I had my taxes done feb 5.

I told my X in November that I would be claiming all the kids..no reply

at end of dec he sent me a note saying he was claiming 2, I could claim one. No mention of the note I sent him. He mentioned also that he had had his deductions from his payroll changed in anticipation of this and he needed to claim 2 to "break even" (BTW..he has been on 3 vacations that I know of last year, one including a cruise and bought a house with OW)

went on in note to say how HE DECIDED we would handle it next year

I did not reply

When I had my taxes done, tax guy called 2 days later and said I couldnt e file because someone had already used my sons SS#. He advised me to still mail it in unchanged, I would get the deduction as I have the bragging rights.

Kids live with me, I get 250/wk child support. He has them on his insurance for health

I have 1500$ mortgage, I pay for food, oil, electric, phone, water med copays and prescript co pays for kids (he did give me $100 towards that last week which is first time in 2 years that he did that)

Q..should I do as tax guy said, or change it to just the one deduction for me. I assume X e filed and probably has a refund already.

If I mail it in unchanged, will I be audited?
Would we have to go to court?

I really dont want a hassle with my X, I just want what is rightfully mine. I would recieve a MUCH NEEDED 2000$ refund if I let it stand. If tax guy changes it, I dont know what if any I would get back


For next year, I plan to address this issue in court, it wasnt written exactly in my D papers who claims who, and I didnt know that it was customary for custodial parent to be able to claim. But that doesnt help me for now. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">If you file electronically, your return will be denied. It will not be accepted (electronically) until the error is corrected.

You can mail your return and most likely what will happen is your return will be adjusted and you will receive a statement as such with any remaining refund or balance owing.

At this point, your best bet is to fix your return and file a normal return and contest this through the court.

Generally, when their is child support involved the courts allow the payer of the support to take the tax deduction even if they are not the custodial parent. Since your H is paying child support and health insurance, and there are two kids involved they will probably agree to each you deducting one child each. If this happens, take the younger child and you will have the child deduction for a longer period of time.

Good Luck.

Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, came out in October, says custodial parent claims the kids regardless of financial support.

can you please post a web link if you can find one. I looked around last night and found some info, but not that specifically says that.

I have been swamped with homework as I had bronchitis for 2 1/2 weeks, all my assignments are due by 11 PM tomorrow..still 4 to go <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" /> My goodness, I need prayers!!!

Thanks you all, I havent responded cause Im so backed up..did homework all weekend <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="images/icons/frown.gif" /> After tomorrow nite, microbio is due for Thur

Thur should be a better day for me

I don't have a specific site- just type in the title and check out the new difinititons of "child" which they state is for the purpose of exemptions, EIC, etc.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by country mama:
<strong> I don't have a specific site- just type in the title and check out the new difinititons of "child" which they state is for the purpose of exemptions, EIC, etc. </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">IRS Qualifying Child

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"> Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004, came out in October, says custodial parent claims the kids regardless of financial support.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">There are exceptions for divorce as stated by the IRS. The ACT defines a qualifying child, not a custodial parent. The IRS defines a custodial parent as a parent who provides at least 50% of support. If you have a joint custody decree, you'll in addition to your H paying support and medical insurance, you will have a hard time arguing this in court where there are two children involved. Generally, the judge will split the difference.

My advice to you is to go back to your attorney and have your divorce decree and child custody agreement amended to spell out who claims what child. Since this was not done for this tax year, the IRS will treat it as first come first serve.

Good Luck.

To me, it looks like the parent with "primary" custody has the upper hand in claiming them if it is not spelled out in the divorce decree.

Publication 501 under "Support Test for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents" has a flow chart that might be helpful.

It looks like it comes down to days and nights - "The parent who has custody of the child for the greater part of the year (the custodial parent) is generally treated as the parent who provides more than half of the child's support. It does not matter whether the custodial parent actually provided more than half of the support."

"If neither a decree nor agreement establishes custody, then the parent who has the physical custody of the child for the greater part of the year is considered to have custody of the child."

The IRS allows noncustodial parents to utilize their child(ren)'s exemption (including the child tax credit); this is generally negotiated during the divorce process, and requires that each year, the custodial parent sign a Form 8332 for the noncustodial parent to file with their return.

IRS FAQ on the subject, with links.

I would expect that any noncustodial parent claiming exemptions without this form would get creamed in an audit.

It should also be noted that, even if the noncustodial parent claims all the exemptions in a given year, the custodial parent can still file as head of household.

<small>[ February 22, 2005, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: Lost71 ]</small>