So my MIL got custody of my son in 07/22. She said she only claimed him for the half year she had him so I can do the same. How do I go about this? My claim was rejected.

[e8252062c65a]

I had him from 09/25/2021 to 07/26/2022. She has custody for now but he was not adopted by her.

[xmasbaby0]

There is no such thing as claiming a dependent for half the year.  It is all or nothing.

The IRS goes by physical custody.  So it comes down to who the child lived with for  the most nights in 2022.  The one who had him for at least 183 nights in 2022 can claim him as a dependent.  The other person should not list anything about the child on a tax return.

If you had physical custody in 2022 past July 1 then you can file a tax return claiming your son but you will have to file it by mail since MIL already used the SSN on a tax return.   The IRS will sort out which one of you gets the child-related credits.    MIL may need to amend her return to remove the child as a dependent but you do not have to wait for that.   You return can be mailed when you have it ready to mail.

When you mail a tax return, you need to attach any documents showing tax withheld, such as your W-2’s or any 1099’s.  Use a mailing service that will track it, such as UPS or certified mail so you will know the IRS/state received the return.

Federal and state returns must be in separate envelopes and they are mailed to different addresses.  Read the mailing instructions that print with your tax return carefully so you mail them to the right addresses.

[KrisD15]

No, it doesn't work that way. 

A Taxpayer may only claim someone as their dependent, or not. 

A dependent can't be split in half. 

If she claimed the child as her dependent, no one else will be able to claim that same child and e-file. 

You have the option of e-filing without claiming the child, or, if you think you have the right to claim the child, you can paper file and mail in the return. 

In this later case, the IRS will step in and decide who really gets to claim the dependent. 

 According to the IRS:

"Sometimes a child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person. The following rules must be applied to determine who can claim the child as a qualifying child. Under the tie-breaker rule, the child is treated as a qualifying child:

• 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.

This information is found in Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information."

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