@Critter-3 wrote:
Correct ... due to the child's age the tie breaker rules don't apply so the regular dependent child or relative dependent rules apply.
I don't want to nitpick this to death, but if you read the entire discussion, you will see that this is not entirely clear. The IRS publications don't say "default to the regular rules," they definitely say "the child does not live with either parent." If that is taken literally, it means that the entire classification as "qualifying child" is off the table, and only the "qualifying relative" rules can be used. If the default rules apply, then IRS example 6 (from both pubs 501 and 504) is decided incorrectly by the IRS.
Defaulting to the normal rules seems logical, but that's not what it says in plain English.
What is really needed here is a look at the audit manual, or a law review or accounting journal article that examines the law and any court cases to tell us how such cases are actually decided. In the absence of that, I think we have to acknowledge that the instructions are not really clear, and that either interpretation is only the opinion of one or the other of a group of self-appointed anonymous internet "experts" and worth exactly as much as paid for.
Best of luck to the taxpayer.
