Divorce 2023 - Head of Household & Mortgage Interest

[noah44]

I divorced this last Sept 2023 and I made more money (higher AGI) than my ex-spouse which I pay child support for our son that is 9. We are 50/50 split on custody in WA state. According to our divorce agreement, we would be alternating child dependent tax credits every other year. This year would be mine, but I don't qualify since I made too much. However, I do get a tax break for applying as Head of Household. Based on my review of the tiebreaker rules, I would be able to claim him as a dependent since I had the higher AGI that year, is this correct?

For the sale of our last home, I believe the mortgage interest would be split 50/50, so does that mean I split the total of Box1 mortgage interest in half when I report it?

[DaveF1006]

Yes, the IRS lists the following guidelines for the tie-breaker rule. 

• The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent,
• The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together,
• The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together,
• A non-parent, if no parent claims the child as a qualifying child although he or she may do so and only if the non-parent's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent who may claim the child, or
• The person with the highest AGI, if none of the persons is the child's parent.

Based on this, you will be able to claim your son as a dependent. Also, since you are splitting mortgage interest, you will report your interest as 1/2 of the amount that appears in Box 1 of the mortgage interest statement.