I would not go so far as to call the order illegal. The poster said that it was a court order, not a divorce decree. It sounds more like a judges misunderstanding of tax law and an error on the judges part. That is a judicial error, not a crime.
In addition, there is no way that the non-custodial parent that did not live with the child more than half the year *can* claim the EIC without lying in the tax return which is tax fraud. What would be illegal is if the non-custodial parent actually claimed the child for EIC purposes.
There is also no way to know if that parents earned income and AGI would even fall into the range that would allow EIC even if the child was able to be claimed. Just having a child does not automatically result in EIC, the income limits must also be met.
**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
