| Goodmom |
| (Pooh-Bah) |
| 03/20/12 02:18 AM |
Re: tax issues...now this...
|
[quote]
...and GOODMOM, as an accountant you should maybe brush up on your IRS info, because as long as you have a court order from your divorce decree stating that you are alternating years claiming exemptions (EIC included) you do not need to have 51% custody for that year. The IRS will give you the EIC with proof of a court order, you just have to paper file your return. This was told to me by an accountant AND a representative of the IRS...just FYI. [/quote]
Directly from the IRS website:
Head of Household
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.
You are unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.
You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
A “qualifying person” lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the “qualifying person” is your dependent parent, he or she does not have to live with you. See Special rule for parent , later, under Qualifying Person.
My response:
The special rule for parent listed above is for if YOUR mother or father were your dependent.
Even more:
Custodial parent and noncustodial parent. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent.
My response:
Crystal clear on who is considered the custodial parent.
Even more:
Equal number of nights. If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights during the year, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI).
December 31. The night of December 31 is treated as part of the year in which it begins. For example, December 31, 2011, is treated as part of 2011.
My response:
The ONLY time that it would be equal is on a leap year. Which is THIS year, not 2011.
Even more:
Qualifying Child Rules
Return to EITC Home Page
Your child must have a valid Social Security Number and must pass all of the following tests to be your qualifying child for EITC:
Relationship
Your son, daughter, adopted child1, stepchild, foster child2 or a descendent of any of them such as your grandchild
Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, step brother, step sister or a descendant of any of them such as a niece or nephew
Age. At the end of the filing year, your child was:
Younger than you (or your spouse if you file a joint return) and
younger than 19, or
younger than 24 and a full-time student
Any age if permanently and totally disabled3
Residency
Child must live with you (or your spouse if you file a joint return) in the United States4 for more than half of the year.
My response:
Here is the last part again:
Child must live with you (or your spouse if you file a joint return) in the United States4 for more than half of the year.
My response:
My accounting skills are just fine. I do have to wonder if you bothered to give the accountant that you spoke with the answer to my question:
Which one of you had the most overnights?
Because if it was your ex and you DIDN'T tell the accountant that you spoke with that, you didn't get an accurate answer at all. And if you did tell him/her that it was your ex, well, then that particular accountant needs to go back to school.
And something tells me that it was your ex who had the most overnights in 2011. You better hope that she doesn't realize that she can still claim HOH and the EITC for the child. Because you will be the one who will lose as soon as she proves that she had the child more overnights than you.
In the future, on the years that you get to claim the exemption, you may want to make sure that you have the most overnights so that you do qualify for HOH and EITC.