Child tax credit

[Klsoju]

My ex husband and I got divorced mid 2021 but he filed joint along with my daughter under him for that year (2020) and we split the return. The divorce decree states I get to claim our daughter as I am the primary parent of our child. Ex now is receiving early advance tax credit and refuses to stop the early payments even though I am to claim her in my own 2021 taxes. Is there anything I can do? what happens if he claims her in his taxes next year and what is the best way to go upon claiming her in my own taxes (first time doing tax) thanks for your time

[Bsch4477]

If you file your 2021 return first you will receive all of the 2021 child tax credit due to you and he will have to pay the advanced credit back. If he tries to claim the child after you have filed his return will be rejected. 

[SallyRandall]

It's really, really important that you file your taxes before he does in order to claim your child!

[Klsoju]

He is currently in the military and usually gets his W-2 first. Is there any other way? Or what I could do?  I’ve tried to ask him to stop the early payments and to take her out from his account and about having to pay x amount back when it’s tax time as he is not to be claiming her but he thinks he will get away with it unfortunately 

[Bsch4477]

If he files first you would have to mail your return with an explanation that you are the one entitled to claim the dependency. The IRS will then sort it out. He will owe penalties and have to return the money. 

As an aside, from my experience as ex-military a word from a congressional representative to a soldier’s CO that the soldier is not only filing a fraudulent tax return but also violating the terms of a divorce agreement does wonders to get the soldier’s attention. Contact your local representative. 

[Klsoju]

I’ve contacted his command Regarding him not paying child support which took a few months to sort out. He still has not payed x amount owed to me for our split which I’ve tried to reach out to his command about before taking legal actions. All that was emailed back was “that’s a civil issue which will need to be sorted on your own”. I will look into trying to get local Congress into this as he’s already been receiving the credit for the past 2 months and continuing to do so. Any other Advice is greatly appreciated thanks 

[Opus 17]

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@SallyRandall wrote:

It's really, really important that you file your taxes before he does in order to claim your child!

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Not exactly.  If the ex files first, the taxpayer will be blocked from e-filing, but can still claim their child by mailing their return.  The IRS will investigate the discrepancy. 

[Opus 17]

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@Klsoju wrote:

He is currently in the military and usually gets his W-2 first. Is there any other way? Or what I could do?  I’ve tried to ask him to stop the early payments and to take her out from his account and about having to pay x amount back when it’s tax time as he is not to be claiming her but he thinks he will get away with it unfortunately 

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His getting the advanced payments has no effect on you.  Let him take the payments, he will have to pay everything back.

In the case of a child of divorced or separated parents, the only parent who has the automatic right to claim that child as a dependent is the parent where the child lives more than half the nights of the year.   Your court ruling does not mean anything to the IRS, because federal tax law is superior to state court orders in this matter. You have to actually count the number of nights that the child and the parent were physically living in the same home.  Whichever parent had custody more than half the nights is the only parent automatically allowed to claim the child as a dependent.

If this is you, file your return and claim your child.  You will receive the full child tax credit on your return.  If your ex does not claim the child, he will have to repay the credit.  If he does claim the child, the IRS will investigate both claims.  If he loses, he will have to repay the credit with interest and possibly penalties. 

If both parents claim the child as a dependent, the IRS will begin an investigation by sending letters to both parents, and each parent will have to document the custody situation. The IRS will not follow the court order, they will want proof of how many nights the child lived in your home. The best proof is documentary evidence from unrelated third parties, such as your child’s doctor, the school district, and so on.  You will want to save any letters that are written to you on behalf of your child that will tend to show the child lives in your home. Information on bussing arrangements from the school district that show the child lives in your home most of the time, and so on. Social media may also be helpful if you have pictures that you can show the child living in your home.  Certainly if your ex is deployed or based somewhere else, that will help you prove your case.