Do I qualify for a child tax credit if my child didn't live with me in 2011

[kevinr1]

Is a child tax credit seperate from a dipendent child tax credit?

[kevinr1]

Do I qualify for a child tax credit if my child did'nt live with me in 2011 and is a chiuld tax credit seperate from a dipendent claim on my taxes? Or is it all one thing together?

[shaunral]

no  the child would have to live with you atleast 6 months

[Hal_Al]

It is definitely not ALL one thing together, but certain parts do go together.
In order for the non-custodial parent to claim any tax benefits based on a child, the custodial parent must sign and give him IRS form 8332 allowing him to claim the child's dependency. The child tax credit goes with the dependency. So, yes you can get the Child tax credit for a child that doesn't live with you.
You can't get the earned income credit or the dependent care credit. Both of those require that the child live with you.

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& education credits; 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 cannot be split in any other manner.


The custodial parent has first priority on claiming the children on her taxes; regardless of the amount of support provided by the non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent can only claim the child as a dependent if the custodial parent gives permission (on form 8332) or if it's spelled out in a pre 2009 divorce decree.




Do I qualify for a child tax credit if my child did'nt live with me in 2011 and is a chiuld tax credit seperate from a dipendent claim on my taxes? Or is it all one thing together?

[kevinr1]

Since my daughter lives with her Aunt , is this the person that I need to give the form 8332 to sign?

[Hal_Al]

No. The aunt cannot sign the form 8332.
The tax benefits cannot be split in any other manner than described under the special rule.

If the aunt has custody, you get nothing. The splitting of the child is only allowed between separated parents, as described above. They cannot be split between an aunt and a father. The aunt gets everything.

UNLESS the mother also lives with the aunt. Then the child is the Qualifying Child of both the aunt and the mother. The mother then gets to choose who claims the child. If she chooses the aunt, you get nothing and the mother gets nothing. If she choose you, you and the mother split the benefits, under the  special rule and the aunt gets nothing. Obviously this doesn't work if the mother has no earned income to file a return based on; then you would get half the benefits and the other half would be lost.