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xero22390
New Member

Earned Income Tax Credit for step-child

My spouse has a child from a previous relationship. She and the biological father have a pre-existing agreement for him to be able to claim the child as a dependent on his taxes, even though the child primarily lives with us (father has visitation rights that don't exceed two nights' stay at his residence) My wife doesn't work, and I'm the only one who brings in income, so we file our taxes jointly. Can I still claim the child for EIC and his biological father claim him as a dependent?

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Accepted Solutions
Hal_Al
Level 15

Earned Income Tax Credit for step-child

Yes.

You (as a joint filer with the child's mother) are the custodial parent.

 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: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2014_publink1000170897 Scroll down to "Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart)"

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2 Replies
Hal_Al
Level 15

Earned Income Tax Credit for step-child

Yes.

You (as a joint filer with the child's mother) are the custodial parent.

 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: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2014_publink1000170897 Scroll down to "Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart)"

xero22390
New Member

Earned Income Tax Credit for step-child

Thank you very much, I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row.
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