I need to delete my child's information from the EIC section of my tax return, can this only be done by deleting his information completely from my return?

[DoninGA]

Why would you need to delete the dependent if you were eligible to claim them as a dependent on your tax return?  You cannot just give the dependency to someone else if you are the one who is entitled to claim them as a dependent.

[macuser_22]

If you are not entitled to claim the EIC then you probably entered the dependent incorrectly.   Why don't you think that you qualify for the EIC?

If you explain the situation we can tell you how to do it correctly.

[Critter]

Are you the custodial or non custodial parent ?  

[jzendejas32]

I am the custodial parent, my child's mother accidentally claimed my son on her EIC because of a misunderstanding of the TurboTax prompt that told her she could claim EIC without claiming our child as a dependant. Now my tax return has been rejected multiple times because we have been told that only one parent can claim and use his social security number for EIC.

[Critter]

All you can do is mail in your correct return and claim the child as you should  and have the other parent amend their return to remove the credit they were not allowed.  

[macuser_22]

When you say "custodial parent", did the child physically live with you more more than half the year?   Tax custody and legal custody are not always the same.

In any event, ONLY the parent that the child physical lived with MORE than  half the year can claim the EIC.   I assume that that s a 2017 tax return since 2018 can not be filed yet.    Because 2017 e-file ended on Oct 15, 2018, you can only paper file any and claim the credits that you are entitled to.  If the other parent claimed a credit that they were not entitled to then that parent should amend and remove it.

[Critter]

If you are unmarried or never married and live apart and share custody, then:

The parent with whom the child lives more than half the year (183 or more nights ) is automatically entitled to claim the child as a dependent. This is the custodial parent. (IRS determines custody based on where the child lives, not any court order or agreement.)  The non-custodial parent is not entitled to claim anything.

However, the custodial parent can sign a release (form 8332) allowing the non-custodial parent to claim the child as a dependent.  You can download this form from the IRS web site.  The custodial parent signs it and gives it to the non-custodial parent and the non-custodial parent mails it to the IRS after e-filing the rest of their tax return.  In this case, the non-custodial parent can claim the dependent exemption and the child tax credit.  The non-custodial parent can never claim earned income credit, the dependent care credit (day care credit) or use the child to qualify for head of household status.  Those benefits always stay with the custodial parent.

Only the Custodial parent can claim: (Child would be listed as non-dependent EIC & CC only)
-Head of Household 
-Earned Income Credit
-Child Care Credit

The non custodial parent can only claim: (Child would be listed as dependent)
-The Exemption
- The Child Tax Credit