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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
I am trying to determine if I can choose head of household this year for the 2018 tax year to be filed in 2019. My ex-wife and I have 2 kids. We were legally divorced in October 2016. I currently rent a home, which I pay all expenses. Our divorce agreement is for joint custody, but we do have it written in that we each can claim one child as a dependent. She signs the IRS form to give me one child as a dependent and I do the same for her. I have never claimed head of household prior because I worked 3rd shift and she had the kids most overnights of the year. I have worked now on 1st shift and have the kids at night. I will end up having the kids now more nights of the year in 2018. Does this qualify me to file head of household? That is the way I am reading the current tax law. I have documented all 2018 the nights that I had them just in case I am audited. Also, would this allow me to claim all child care expenses?
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
You can file as head of household if the children lived with you more than half the nights of the year.
(A child who lives with you more than half the year qualifies you to file as head of household, even if you let your ex-wife claim that child as a dependent. But you only need one child to qualify as head of household. Since you are claiming one child, the simple thing to do is use the child that you claim as a dependent as your qualifying child for head of household. I believe that TurboTax will do this automatically.)
There is no joint custody in federal tax law, and your divorce agreement does not override the tax law. If the children stay with you more than half the nights in the year, you are the custodial parent. Since you are the custodial parent, you do not need a Form 8332 from your ex-wife to claim the children as dependents. She needs a Form 8332 from you in order to claim one of the children.
I'm not sure what you mean by "all" child care expenses. As the custodial parent, you can claim the child care credit for expenses that you paid so that you could work. You can claim child care expenses for both children, even if your ex-wife claims one of the children as a dependent. You cannot claim child care expenses that your ex-wife paid. Your ex-wife cannot claim any child care expenses, because she is not the custodial parent.
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
You can file as head of household if the children lived with you more than half the nights of the year.
(A child who lives with you more than half the year qualifies you to file as head of household, even if you let your ex-wife claim that child as a dependent. But you only need one child to qualify as head of household. Since you are claiming one child, the simple thing to do is use the child that you claim as a dependent as your qualifying child for head of household. I believe that TurboTax will do this automatically.)
There is no joint custody in federal tax law, and your divorce agreement does not override the tax law. If the children stay with you more than half the nights in the year, you are the custodial parent. Since you are the custodial parent, you do not need a Form 8332 from your ex-wife to claim the children as dependents. She needs a Form 8332 from you in order to claim one of the children.
I'm not sure what you mean by "all" child care expenses. As the custodial parent, you can claim the child care credit for expenses that you paid so that you could work. You can claim child care expenses for both children, even if your ex-wife claims one of the children as a dependent. You cannot claim child care expenses that your ex-wife paid. Your ex-wife cannot claim any child care expenses, because she is not the custodial parent.
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
This was exactly what I was thinking for all your answer, but just wanted some more input. I did know the federal tax law superseded our divorce agreement. I just wanted that input since I know it will really throw my ex off when she figures out she can't claim head of household. I plan to fill out the 8332 to give to her.
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
That is, if you are giving her a form 8332 for the child she claims, that means you are the custodial parent for that child and she is the non-custodial parent. See "special rule" details below. She may not be planning on filing as a non-custodial parent, particularly if she wants to claim EIC and/or Head of Household, or day care.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
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: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170897">https://www.irs.gov/publications/...>
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
Child care is "work related". It can only be claimed if the care was necessary so that you (and your spouse if married) could work. Only if the child lived with you more than half the year *and* the care was required so that you could work is it allowed. If you did not live with the child or work at the time that the care was provided then it was not necessary so that you could work and therefore is not allowed.
See IRS Pub 17 page 213
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf</a>
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Can I file head of household under new tax laws?
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