Is Your Ex- Spouse Improperly Claiming Your Children?
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Got Questions or a Tax Problem? Contact us for FREE assistance* A D D R E S S Washington and Lee University School of Law Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic East Denny Circle, Lewis Hall IS YOUR EX- Lexington, Virginia 24450 SPOUSE E M A I L taxclinic@wlu.edu IMPROPERLY N U M B E R CLAIMING 540-458-8918 YOUR W E B S I T E http://law.wlu.edu/taxclinic CHILDREN? * T h e T a x C l i n i c i s a F R E E l e g a l You can still claim your c l i n i c . W e p r o v i d e i n c o m e - e l i g i b l e t a x p a y e r s l e g a l a s s i s t a n c e w i t h t a x children on your taxes if c o n t r o v e r s i e s . E l i g i b i l i t y w i l l d e p e n d o n h o u s e h o l d i n c o m e . you are the custodial parent! W A S H I N G T O N A N D L E E U N I V E R S I T Y . S C H O O L O F L A W . L O W - I N C O M E T A X P A Y E R C L I N I C Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S R A C E T O F I L E 1. Do you have a "Qualifying Child" for a Dependency Exemption? The custodial parent (the one who can claim the qualifying child) is generally entitled Relationship Test: The qualifying child must be a to the exemption. However, a non-custodial son/daughter, sister/brother, stepchild, parent sometimes tries to improperly claim nephew/niece, grandchild, adopted child, or the child by filing his or her tax return first. foster child. IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS THE END OF Age Test: The child must be under age 19 or under THE STORY. age 24 if he or she is a full-time student, or a child with a total and permanent disability regardless S T E P S T O C L A I M T H E of his/her age. Q U A L I F Y I N G C H I L D Residence Test*: The child must have lived with the taxpayer more than half of the year. The IRS Filing first prevents the second parent from counts nights spent at the taxpayer's house filing electronically. If you are entitled to when determining whether the test is met. claim the child and your electronic return is Support Test: The child must NOT have provided rejected: more than half of his or her support. You should file the return by MAIL and IF YOU MEET ALL OF THE TESTS ABOVE THEN keep proof of mailing. YOU ARE A CUSTODIAL PARENT ELIGIBLE TO CLAIM THE DEPENDENCY EXEMPTION. After about 6 weeks, the IRS will review both returns and AUDIT one or both 2. What if both parents claim the qualifying child taxpayers. because he or she lives with the parents for the If the IRS has already processed the same amount of time? non-custodial parent's return, it should Under the tie-breaker test, the IRS will grant the still review the custodial parent's return qualifying child to a taxpayer in the following order: The parent, if only one of the persons claiming the and give him or her the exemption if he child is the child's parent. or she meets the "Qualifying Child" test. The parent with the highest Adjusted Gross The non-custodial parent will be asked Income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent to return the part of his or her refund for the same amount of time during the tax year. that is attributable to the qualifying * The IRS may require verification of residency to determine child exemption. which parent is entitled to claim the child. .