Turbotax isn't asking if the other parent is claiming my child

[michelelise]

I am divorced and my daughter's other parent claims her as a dependent, but I am the custodial parent. Even though I am answering the question about having a divorce decree or agreement with the other parent, TurboTax is listing my child as my dependent, which is incorrect. It is not asking me if the other parent will claim her. How can we fix this glitch? I still want to claim her for the EIC.

[xmasbaby0]

Did you say YES to having a signed form 8332?

Are you the custodial parent?  Do you have an agreement with the other parent to allow the other parent to claim them--due to divorce or that you live apart and share custody?  Did one of you sign a Form 8332?

If there is a signed 8332 then the custodial parent retains the right to file as Head of Household, get earned income credit and the childcare credit.  The non-custodial parent gets the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.

As far as the IRS is concerned, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child spent the most nights during the tax year--at least 183 nights.

[michelelise]

Yes, I did--and TurboTax still listed my daughter as my dependent. This has never happened in previous years, and I feel like it's a glitch in the system.

[rjs]

This seems to be a bug. I'll report it to TurboTax. In the meantime, the following steps should give you the result that you want, even though they don't reflect your actual situation.

• When TurboTax asks if you have a custody agreement, select "I don't have a custody agreement."
• On the next screen, select "Yes, another relative lived in my home and helped support {your daughter}."
• On the next screen, say that the other relative had the higher income.
• On the next screen, say that the other relative will claim your daughter as a dependent.
• You will then get a screen telling you that your daughter is not your dependent, but that you may be able to use her for the EIC.

[rjs]

@michelelise  Sorry, but after further testing it appears that the steps that I gave you above don't work. It will tell you that you can use your daughter for the EIC, and it will list her as a nondependent, but it does not recognize her as a qualifying child for the EIC. So at this point we have no solution except to wait for TurboTax to fix the bug.

[Hal_Al]

 At the screen titled "Do you have a custody agreement", click the box  "I don't have a custody agreement".  That gets me the right follow up  question (yes, I'm letting the other parent claim  the child).  I have download Deluxe. 

At least one other user reports that this worked for  them too.

[rjs]

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@Hal_Al wrote:

 At the screen titled "Do you have a custody agreement", click the box  "I don't have a custody agreement".  That gets me the right follow up  question (yes, I'm letting the other parent claim  the child).  I have download Deluxe. 

At least one other user reports that this worked for  them too.

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@Hal_Al  That's what I said to do a couple of posts above. It looks as if it's working, in that it says the child can be used for EIC or other credits, and lists the child as a nondependent. But when you get to the EIC interview, it does not recognize the child as a qualifying child for EIC.