topic If I put my son's social in my taxes and put that his other parent will be claiming him does that mean I claimed him and that the other parent can't file for him? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

If I put my son's social in my taxes and put that his other parent will be claiming him does that mean I claimed him and that the other parent can't file for him?

rivera9812 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:28 GMT

My son's father went to file his taxes and they told him that I claimed him in my taxes.

What is your living situation? The rules are different if...

Hal_Al — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:29 GMT

What is your living situation? The rules are different if you are living together or are divorced & separated (including never married) parents living apart. If the latter, which parent does the child live with?

We are separated and the child lives with me.

rivera9812 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:31 GMT

We are separated and the child lives with me.

You claimed something, you were not suppose to; most like...

Hal_Al — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:31 GMT

You claimed something, you were not suppose to; most likely the child tax credit

Oh okay. I was unsure because it asked if I was going to...

rivera9812 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:34 GMT

Oh okay. I was unsure because it asked if I was going to let the other parent claim them so I assumed that it didn't count him and I didn't receive anything for him.

Yes, that's what it means. The father will now have to fi...

Hal_Al — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:35 GMT

Yes, that's what it means.

The father will now have to file a paper return to claim the child.

You will have to review your return, figure out what you claimed and then file an amended return.

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If you and the other parent live together, only one of you can claim the child for any tax benefit. The interview is confusing (it's designed for divorced parents, who are allowed to split the child). The second parent should not enter the child, at all.

If you and the other parent live together, either one of you (but not both) may claim the child. You may decide between you which one will claim the child. Only if you can’t agree, do the IRS tie breaker rules apply, to see who has first choice. It may be worthwhile to prepare trial returns, both ways, to see which way the family comes out best. This tool may be useful: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1.

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There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the exemption to him.

So, it's good idea to let the other parent know that you will be claiming those items, as many first time divorced parents are not aware of this rule and may try to claim those items, which will cause the IRS to send out letters.

Ref: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170897

No, that's not true. If you have told the program that y...

LinaJ2018 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 06:20:40 GMT

No, that's not true. If you have told the program that you let the other parent claim him, it does not mean you claimed your son and the other parent cannot file to claim him. With that permission, the other parent can claim your son on his return because you release your right to the father to claim him on his return.

Just make sure you do these steps in the program under the "Dependent" section. Please see the attached screenshots.

As you are the custodial parent, with the release, you can claim Head of Household, Dependent Care Credit and EIC and the other parent who is the non-custodial parent will claim the dependent and child tax credit.