My husband and I separated last year and this will be our first time filing our taxes separately. We have 2 children (under 18) with a 70/30 custody arrangement with him paying me child support but no spousal support. We have a good relationship and have agreed that we will each claim 1 child. Can we each claim the "amount for an eligible dependent" for 1 child. I have tried looking this up but am getting conflicting answers because he is paying child support. For background: we have 2 children and each want to claim 1. we separated in Feb 2019. we have a 70/30 custody arrangement and he pays child support (both of our incomes were factored into this amount) but not spousal support.
Yes.
As long as you both have an agreement to each claim one child each, then you would list the dependent you are claiming on your tax return under the My info section of the return.
Be sure to answer all of the questions and the software will calculate the applicable child tax credit based upon your entries into the program.
I have attached a link to the tax guidelines utilized to claim a child as a dependent. As long as you meet all of the requirements, you can list them as your dependent.
Yes, based on your situation, it sounds as though you and your husband can both claim 1 child as a dependent if you wish to--but it will require filling out an extra form.
The IRS rules for claiming dependents as a "qualifying child" depends on 5 tests, summarized at https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2019_publink[phone number removed] (in Table 5). These are:
1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother,
sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of
any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger
than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the
year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or
(c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support
for the year.
5. The child must not be filing a joint return for the year (unless that joint
return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated
tax paid).From what you describe, both you and your husband qualify for tests 1, 2, 4, and 5. The tricky one is test 3, where the child must live with the taxpayer for half the year. In IRS terms, you are the "custodial parent", since you have the children for over 50% of the time (with a 70-30 custody arrangement), while your husband is the "noncustodial parent." Under normal circumstances, this would mean your husband could not claim a child (since he does not have that child living with him for half the year).
HOWEVER, there is a special exception for children of divorced and separated parents, described at https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2019_publink[phone number removed] and https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/what-happens-when-both-parents-claim-a-child-on-a-tax-return/L5ejjtI9n. The way this exception works is that you can tell the IRS that you release your claim to an exemption for one (or both) children, so your husband can claim them, even though he does not live with them for half the year. This is done through Form 8332 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf), which you would fill out and sign, then give to your husband to file with his return. (You can select on the form to release your claim just for one year, or for several years, if you just want to fill out the form once). This form does not depend on child support paid--you can release your exemption regardless of how much he is paying. TurboTax provides more information about this here: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/what-is-form-8332-release-revocation-of-release-of-claim-to-exemption-for-child-by-custodial-parent/L25kdeRnR.
BUT, there is a tax planning element to consider. Having your husband claim a child could mean more total taxes paid for the two of you, because when he claims a child as a noncustodial parent, he will be eligible for some tax credits (like the child tax credit) but not others (like the EITC, which can be a lot of money). It is possible that if you claimed both children and agreed to split the increase in your refund from adding the second child with your husband, you could both come out ahead. If you have a good relationship, this might be another option worth considering.
TLDR: You can fill out Form 8332. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf
Each of you can claim one of the children as a dependent. As mentioned by chi_squared, you will need to complete Form 8332 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf), sign it, and give to your ex-husband so that he can file it with his tax return.