Form 8332 and 8453

[eyongtax]

If partner (custodial)  ( we are not yet married but live with our 2 year son in the same apartment) fills form 8332 does she also need to fill form 8453? or form 8453 needs to be filled by me (noncustodial parent). I am really confused.

[xmasbaby0]

Forget about 8332 if you all live together as a family.  That form is used by divorced or never married parents who live apart and share physical custody.

Since all of you live together, only one of you enters anything about the child on a tax return.  The other parent does not enter anything at all about the child on their return.   That parent files as Single.

It is usually better for the one who earns more to claim the child and use Head of Household filing status, and they also get EIC, child tax credit and childcare credit.   

[BrittanyS]

Since you are not married, then you do not have to fill out form 8332 or 8453.  Either parent can claim the child.  The person who paid over half the household expenses would be able to claim head of household status if they claimed the child.  To qualify for Head of Household you must meet the following requirements:

• Pay for more than half of the expenses for a qualifying household
• Be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year
• Have a qualifying child or dependent

The benefits from filing as Head of Household are:

• higher standard deduction
• more taxable income falling into lower tax brackets

For more information, see the link below:

• Head of Household
• What is a dependent?

[Edited 2/4/2025| 4:55 pm PST]

@eyongtax 

[eyongtax]

Thank you so much for your response. Also sorry as I forgot to give background information. My I and my partner had a verbal agreement that I will be claiming our son this tax season since she won't have enough return if she does. However she forgot to remove his social security b4 she file her tax return. So after I claimed and filed my own return it was immediately rejected because on the IRS system it shows that his social security has been used on another accepted tax return. I reached out to the turbo tax team for help and the representative told me that In order to rectify the issue, My partner need to fill form 8332 and mail it to IRS how ever they did not go too much in depth on how we should go about form 8453. That is why we are stuck on whether she is the one that is suppose to fill form 8453it or i am the one that needs to fill it. 

[xmasbaby0]

That was poor advice.    The child can only be claimed on one tax return since all of you live together.   Your partner should amend and remove all mention of the child from her return if she is not claiming the child.  There is no "splitting" of the child-related credits when you all live together, so using 8332 is not appropriate.   If you are the higher earner and are claiming the child, then your own return claiming the child can be filed by mail since all attempts to e-file  with the child's SSN will be rejected.

Or......there is another possible solution:

GET IP pin in order to e-file if your dependent’s SSN was claimed on another return

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-takes-steps-to-help-prevent-refund-delays-by-accepting-duplicate-de...

[BrittanyS]

To correct this you will need to follow these steps:

1. Your partner will need to file an amended return.  She will need to wait until her return is accepted by the IRS and her refund is received.  This will prevent any delays in the amendment of her return.  Since the dependent child give additional credits and deductions, she should be prepared to pay back a portion of the refund she received.
2. You will need to mail in your return for filing since the E-file option will deny due to the child's social security number being claimed on a previous return.
3. Your partner will not need to fill out form 8332 as this situation is due to an error made when filing.  TurboTax explains, Form 8332 is used when "the non-custodial parents who have been granted the right to claim a child as a dependent by a divorce or separation agreement or by a court order."

For more information on form 8332, see the link below:

• Form 8332

@eyongtax 

[eyongtax]

Thank you so much!

[eyongtax]

Thank you. I really appreciate you