Divorced with children - Question about form 8332

[Hal_Al]

Only if she says you can. "The custodial parent ( the parent the child lives with the most) has first priority on claiming the children on her taxes; regardless of the amount of support provided by the non-custodial parent. The non-custodial parent can only claim the child as a dependent if the custodial parent gives permission (on form 8332)."

[kldill1]

My son lives with his mother. She has no taxable income but will not sign an  8332. so I can't claim him as the non-custodial parent. Besides my son she also has an adult aged son who lives with her in her paid off house. He contributes nothing to my son's support. But he claims my son. Any idea what recourse I have to get this nonsense to stop.

[Hal_Al]

kldill1,
You have no recourse. The adult aged son is allowed to claim your son. He is related (brother, half brother or even step brother). Being related and living with the child is all he needs to qualify. He does not have to provide any support. The fact that you don't live with the child means that you can't claim the child without  form 8332.
Essentially the child's custodial parent  gets to decide who can claim her child. The non-custodial parent can only try to negotiate with her. I agree, it's nonsense. But, it's legal nonsense created by congress.
This may help in your negotiations:  The special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents applies to this situation. She can give you form 8332 to allow you to claim the the child's exemption and child tax credit and the adult son would still be able to claim him for EIC and HoH.

[jayden0812]

I do not think the information provided here is accurate. Please provide IRS publication that states dependent tax benefits can be "split". ???

IRS Publication 17 specifically states the following "Sometimes, a child meets the relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person. Although the child is a qualifying child of each of these persons, only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child to take all of the following tax benefits (provided the person is eligible for each benefit).

The exemption for the child.

The child tax credit.

Head of household filing status.

The credit for child and dependent care expenses.

The exclusion from income for dependent care benefits.

The earned income credit.

The other person cannot take any of these benefits based on this qualifying child. In other words, you and the other person cannot agree to divide these benefits between you. The other person cannot take any of these tax benefits for a child unless he or she has a different qualifying child." Reference http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2014_publink1000204295

Please explain where this rule is offset

[books]

The last post is incorrect as it does not take into consideration the special rules of form 8332. In all other circumstances you are correct, you cannot split the tax benefits between 2 parents for 1 child. Form 8332 came into existence for the sole reason of allowing the custodial parent some benefit (allowing to still claim HH) when releasing their exemption. This can make a big difference on a tax return for some.

[Lisa Sohar]

I filled my taxes last year with Turbotax no problems. This year the only difference is my last name I went back to. My son of 8 years ago I didn't get his child tax credit why. Can I fill out forms 8332 yet. I paid for your service.

[Lisa Sohar]

Need your help with form 8332 which wasn't filed, why.

[Lisa Sohar]

Can I get a number to speak with someone concerning filing form 8332?

[HelenC12]

If you paid for TurboTax Live, see How do I connect with a tax expert in TurboTax Live?

Otherwise, click here for the best way to contact us to discuss Form 8332 Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent.

To find and fill out Form 8332:

1. Open or continue your return in TurboTax if you aren't already in it.
2. Search for revocation of release of claim to exemption for child of divorced or separated parents and select the Jump to link in the search results.
3. On the Releasing an exemption screen, select Yes and follow the onscreen instructions to complete the form.

We'll provide signing and other instructions when you finish filling out the form.