Claiming Qualifying Child and Tiebreaker Rules

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
October 11, 2022
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I am married filing separately and I understand if the children have been living with both parents equally for the year, then the parent with the highest AGI may claim the child(ren) as qualifying dependents. However what if I have higher federal AGI, but my husband has higher state AGI?

Do you go by federal AGI for both federal and states? Or do you claim dependents differently on federal vs state?

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Best answer by Mike9241

that a US income tax rule so for federal purposes state AGI is meaningless. for state purposes, you would have to name the state to see if its rule is state AGI or you can go to its website (usually) to get a copy of the state's individual tax return instructions and see if it says anything. I've never seen such a rule at the state level but...

Mike9241

Answer

Level 15

separate899Author

Level 3

Thank you so much Mike. That aligns with another rule I just read where it seems federal agi stands:

If the child qualifies as someone else's dependent on their federal return, then only they would be able to claim a dependent exemption on a state return