Can my ex and I both claim head of household because our son lives with me and she has another child living with her that is not mine, plus we are both divorced?

[macuser_22]

Child care (and the EIC) can *only* be claimed by the parent that the child physically lived with - those credit can never be claimed by the parent that did not live with the child.   If because of a divorce decree or custody agreement the other parent is allowed to claim the child's exemption then you can release that to the other parent with a signed 8332 form,

The parent that did not live with the child could then claim the child's exemption (dependent) and the child tax credit.   Only you, the parent that lived with the child, can claim the EIC, the Child Care Credit, and Head of Household - if otherwise qualified to claim those, the parent that did not live with the child can never claim those credits.

[coxpk77]

So I'm going to have to have her sign it and she will have to send it in with her taxes which she did early in January.  I'm doing mine now.   All she has to do is mail it.    Or is this a potential issue?

[macuser_22]

If she is going to claim the exemption for the that child lived with you,  then *you* sign a 8332 and give it to her to file with her tax return. If she e-files then she must file Form 8332 with Form 8453, (U.S. Individual Income Tax Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return). See Form 8453 and its instructions for more details.

This must be done within 3 days of your e-filed return being accepted by the IRS.
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8453.pdf">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8453.pdf</a>

[coxpk77]

She already filed early in January through H and R Block.

[coxpk77]

She already has her refund.    This is my last question.  Is that an issue?

[macuser_22]

Depends if she claimed what she was not entitles to claim that will cause your return to reject if she claimed the same credits as you do.

[coxpk77]

She's entitled to the child tax credit because I'm not claiming him this year.     only credit we are both claiming is head of household and we both have a child that lived with us the whole year.  So I should be set.  I'm about to submit my efile.

[macuser_22]

Then enter this way:

If you are the custodial parent where the child physically lived for more than half the year (183 nights) then:

When you enter the dependent, you say that he/she is "Your child" (not you and your spouse if remarried),
he/she lived with you the whole year,
“no” the child did not pay more than half of his/her own support,
"yes", you have a custody agreement,
and "yes", the other parent is claiming this year.  

That will give you the EIC,  Child Care Credit and Head of Household filing status if you otherwise qualify.

The child would be listed as "non-dependent EIC & Dependent Care only".

The other (non-custodial) parent can claim the child’s exemption and child tax credit only and needs a signed 8332 form to do so.

[JulieCo]

It depends.  Please review the requirements for filing Head of Household and the requirements for a qualifying person that you have to support to claim Head of Household filing status.  

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