| 1/14/2013 6:53:35 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
My son lived with me for 9 months, 100%, no child support - in 2011.
I claimed him on my taxes.
I got a letter from the IRS ... someone else claimed him (they can't tell me who) ... I know who!
I called my ex. The court papers were never changed when my son came to live with me full time, so it says shared custody.
He refuses to ammend his return.
I wish I knew (without paying for a lawyer) if the IRS would side with me (due to supporting the child) or side with him (due to the paperwork).
Anyone gone thru this?
Meet singles at DateHookup.dating, we're 100% free! Join now!
|
| 1/14/2013 8:34:16 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
agooddaddy10
Liberty, KY
52, joined Aug. 2010
|
My tax pro asks "Did the child live with you for more than half of the time in 20XX?"
Proving the child lived there is going to be difficult since the custody wasn't legally changed. Good luck and get the custody paperwork corrected.
|
| 1/14/2013 9:25:30 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
bird_on_a_wire
Newnan, GA
30, joined Nov. 2012
|
It's a race.every year for me to make it to file before my sons dad for this simple reason... Good luck!
|
| 1/14/2013 9:41:16 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
jnl1130
Abbeville, LA
33, joined Apr. 2012
|
Me and my 4 year Olds dad decided to claim her every other year. Even though she lives with me and she see him every other weekend (because I make him take her) he pays childsupport so I will let claim her this year and I will claim her next year. Its earlier that way. And I always claim my oldest 2 because there dad is not in there live!
|
| 1/14/2013 11:37:44 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
agooddad ~ ty  Yes, I wondered about how one goes about proving it.
It's not like I took his picture holding a newspaper everyday.
alvanian ~ ty ... I hope so!!
bird ~ ty .. how aweful. Like agood said, I have to go back to court and
get the papers changed... I can't go through this every year. I think
I should go ahead and ask for child support too.
jnl ~ that's good of you. If I didn't need the money to survive, I would
consider just letting it go - but the truth is, I'm trying to send our oldest
song through college, and times are getting tougher.
Thanks to all for responding. I hate the wait - I wish the government wasn't so slow.
|
| 1/15/2013 1:10:28 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
wayan
Tujunga, CA
63, joined Oct. 2010
|
Hi,
Regarding your IRS issue.
First your divorce should state who is the custodial parent. Is it you or him? For example if you have the child 80% of the time, then it is you who can claim the child for tax purposes. If it is 50:50 then he claims one year and you claim the next.
You should go back to court by yourself and seek child support for 2013 and have the court papers changed when your son came to live with you.
The IRS would side with him.
|
| 1/15/2013 1:19:18 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
anja_lou514
Kissimmee, FL
40, joined May. 2011
|
I have my children 2/3rd's of the year and pay child support. He still gets to claim one of them every year because we have "shared" custody. Good luck
|
| 1/15/2013 2:23:24 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
t0n1o
Prosser, WA
35, joined Dec. 2011
|
i had the same issue also and this is wat i was told by the IRS agent.. IF the child has lived with you the majority of the year then YOU can claim the child as a dependent for that tax year.. wat alot of people dont realize, myself included, is that the IRS is
FEDERAL an divorce decrees have NO bearing on how they view dependants since they are state.. If they live with you the majority of the year, with or without child support an even with or without a divorce decree statin who gets wich year an who doesnt, then you can claim them as a dependant.. now the bad part is that the divorce decree is considered a binding contract within watever state you live in so even tho the IRS will accept your return an issue you the apropriate refund.. the other parent could sue you in state court for breach of contract, namely you taking crdit for the child on that years income tax.. if they have no divorce decree an or fail to adheer to the rules set in them, such as they must be up todate on their child support for that year, then there is very little they can do legaly other then be a pain an a headache to you.. hope this helps.. Good Luck.. 
|
| 1/15/2013 4:17:31 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
Wayan ~ The court papers indicate 50/50, however, he physically lives with me. Yes – need to go back to court – no doubt about that. From what I’ve read, the IRS determines it based on time spent, not a state court order…however, I’m afraid you could be right – and it worries me. I do not have the money to pay them… or I would.
I expect the State to side with him due to the court order, regardless of reality.
Anja~ That does not sound fair. I know life is not fair, but … really --- why do you have to pay? Let me guess, because you make more money than he does?
t0n1o ~ That does help… I wonder if he will try to sue me… I guess that remains to be seen. I am taking off next Tuesday to go to the self help clinic and find out how to request a change to the court order.
Do you think, because he moved out of state, it will help?
How do you prove that the child lives with you? Do they ask the child / siblings?
|
| 1/15/2013 10:40:36 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
t0n1o
Prosser, WA
35, joined Dec. 2011
|
Him movin out of state makes things very easy since he will have the burden of showin thatthe child was ith him for 50/50 or majority of th year.. such as plane, or train tickets showin when the child arrived an left his cstody in his state.. as for proof of his dwelling thats also simple.. given ur,s an ur.ex,s current adress an the adress of ur child,s school, shows where the child has resided the majority f the year.. more problemati if U an he both live in the same city.. but since, as U say, lives out of state then little to no worries there.. Good Luck..
|
| 1/15/2013 11:20:55 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
We lived in the same city in 2011 (tax year in question). The address was his, since that was the address it needed to be for my son to keep going to the same school.
|
| 1/15/2013 11:37:01 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
kminge
Portland, OR
38, joined Dec. 2012
|
Hi hon.. I have just dealt with this myself.. The IRS WILL side with you if you can answer yes to important questions... Q1-do you have proof child lives with the majority of the year, they'll want proof like school records or something to prove this and Q2: Do you pay the majority of the cost to maintain the house for this child? If you can prove both of these then your ex will get in trouble for tax fraud espically if he can't provide the proof of those 2 questions... I live in Oregon but IRS is everywhere. I didn't file for my son for so many years because I was terrified of him but now there is NOTHING he can do not even legally.. You can still file your taxes by sending them in just won't be able to do electronically and it will come down to who can prove they live with child & maintain his care.... Hope this helps.
|
| 1/16/2013 12:43:40 AM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
t0n1o
Prosser, WA
35, joined Dec. 2011
|
We lived in the same city in 2011 (tax year in question). The address was his, since that was the address it needed to be for my son to keep going to the same school.
that makes it harder for U now.. cause unfortunatly he has the paperwork proof to show the child was with him simly cause the school will have his address an not urs for the child.. hopefully now the schoo has ur address an if not then u need to fix that, like yesterday..
|
| 1/16/2013 10:25:30 AM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
shadygirl13
Lincoln, NE
44, joined Jun. 2010
|
My divorce decree says we switch every other year as long as he's current on child support. He hasn't been current from the beginning but one year he tried to claim her. The IRS sided with me because from what my lawyer told me, the IRS goes off your court paperwork. It may be possible to take it to court and try and change it but it would probably take up all the refund you'd get anyway. If the child lives with you you need to go to court and have that changed so you can claim him in future years with no problems.
Or try to file before he does...
[Edited 1/16/2013 10:27:02 AM ]
|
| 1/16/2013 5:57:52 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
Kminge ~ that helps a lot, except – How do I prove he lived with me? The address on file with the school was his father’s address, and I couldn’t change it (they told me) – because if I did, he would have been required to change schools.
T0n1~ Yes, I wonder how else a person can prove this? The school now has my address, because he’s going to a different school this year. So, at least I’ll have that for the future. Thank you! I didn’t realize this was going to be an issue. ?
Shady~ Yes, I’m going back to court this year, so I don’t have to go through this for another 4 years. Win or lose, at least I’ll know for sure what to do. I’ve been told several times that the IRS doesn’t go by a state court order, but I guess I’ll find out the hard way.
Thanks again to all for responding… I can’t wait for this to be over.
|
| 1/16/2013 8:09:09 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
edward116
Goldsboro, NC
60, joined Oct. 2009
|
I actually had the pleasure of going to Tax Court over this very issue for the tax years 1979 through 1983. I lost; it was no fun and expensive (lawyers and my CPA {whose advice got me into this}).
At that time the IRS was accepting the custody and property (for tax purposes apparently children are property) agreements regardless of the reality of the situation. Her ex was given a deduction for his oldest child by the settlement; we claimed her (erroneously) because we had full custody and my CPA said the IRS rules allowed us to.
At the time of my settlement with the IRS the rules had changed to whoever had custody more than 50% of the time was entitled to the deduction. But the IRS still upheld her property settlement as it predated the then new policy.
Get good, current advice on the current regulations from the IRS, an Enrolled Agent or a local tax attorney after carefully and fully explaining the situation. Tax Court is no fun; fear of it is no reason to not claim something you are entitled to.
Proving residence will be the key and only a professional can look at whatever proof you have and see what if anything you can do to offset the school records. Here that can actually lead to paying back the county tuition for lying to get around school boundaries.
|
| 1/16/2013 9:52:55 PM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
Edward,
I am really not sure what to do. Thanks for the input, it sounds like you faced worst case scenario. 
Sorry you had to go through that.
Eta, I can't really afford an attorney... It would be cheaper to pay the taxes back. 
[Edited 1/16/2013 9:54:22 PM ]
|
| 1/17/2013 1:21:35 AM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
ronleeseberg
Mauston, WI
49, joined Jan. 2012
|
The best thing you can do is go back to court and get it so there is a court order giving you the right to claim the child and get the taxes redone and send a copy of the order with the return to the IRS. Will take some time but it should work out.
|
| 1/17/2013 11:21:51 AM |
Have you & your ex ever claimed the same child on income tax? |
|
inni_dreamz
Pasadena, CA
52, joined Nov. 2012
|
Thanks, Ron ... I find this situation very stressful, and depressing. I'm naive to think, things work out for the best - and life is, in any way, fair.
I try to be positive, and do the right thing - but being a nice person is a curse. I would be better off [and a better Mom], if I could be ruthless, heartless, and greedy.
Thanks for the response.
|