@joshp14 wrote:
Thanks for the reply. How do you make TurboTax understand that? Every time I delete my son as a dependent, it makes me change my filing status to single. How do I file HOH status but remove him as a dependent?
The way it is supposed to work in the program is you list the child as a dependent, and indicate the child lived with you more than half the year (pick 7 months or longer since the program interprets 6 months as exactly half). The program will then ask if you are allowing the other parent to claim the child as a dependent through a court order or form 8332. When you say yes, the program should keep the child as your qualification for HOH but not claim the child as a dependent for the child tax credit.
You will need to print form 8332, sign it, and give it to the other parent, so they can file their return correctly.
If the child does not live with you more than half the year, you can't use the child to qualify for HOH. That always stays with the parent where the child lives more than half the year and can't be waived or transferred, even with a court order. And if the child lived with the other parent more than half of 2020, then you can't claim the child as a dependent unless the other parent gives you a form 8332.
The IRS does not recognize "50/50" custody, you have to actually count the number of nights the child lived in each parent's home. Since 2020 was a leap year, it is possible that a child could live with each parent for exactly the same number of nights -- 183 -- if this is the case the parent with the higher income gets to claim the child as a dependent and neither parent can use the child to qualify for HOH, since to qualify for HOH, the child must live "more than half" the year with one or the other parent.
