@bluerosebud28 wrote:
Yes I'm the custodial parent. My son lives with me full time and only sees his father every other weekend at most. Our court order specifically says he can claim him as a dependent only but all tax credits including the child tax credit is supposed to go to me. I've not signed a form and this is the first year I've had an issue of not getting the credit when checking the box saying the non custodial parent is claiming him
Your court order tells you to do something that is impossible under the tax law. You may need to discuss this with your attorney and your ex's attorney.
Under the law, if you give your ex a signed form 8332 allowing your ex to claim the child as a dependent, your ex will get the child tax credit (normally $2000, temporarily raised to $3000 or $3600 for 2021). Your ex may also get a $1400 stimulus payment for the child. There is no way for you to get these credits if you give your ex a signed form 8332.
If you don't give your ex a signed form 8332, you will get the credits, but you are technically in violation of the order.
The rules are here.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
(This has been the case since 2018. In 2017 and earlier, the dependent exemption and the child tax credit were two different things, but even then, they could not be separated in the way your court order indicates. Your court order has always instructed you to do something that is impossible under federal law.)
Good luck.
