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QUESTION: Who Should Claim My Daughter on Their Taxes in This Situation?
“Hi! I would like to know who can claim my daughter on taxes! I have full physical placement of my daughter and have been claiming her since she was born with no issues.
Well, last year, her dad tried to claim her on his taxes after I had already claimed her on mine and let him know I was claiming her. I later got a paper in the mail stating we can not both be claiming her (duh) and that one of us was in the wrong.
Now this year, he is throwing a fit, saying he wants to claim her so he does not have to pay in. I have full placement of my daughter. He has supervised visits with her and does pay child support every month. Who is in the right to be claiming her?
Technically I do not think this is fair considering she lives with me, and I spend lots and lots of money supporting her! Thanks in advance!!”
RELATED: My Son’s Father Wants to Claim Our Son on His Taxes Next Year: Can He Do That?
Community Answers
The following top answers have been selected by a moderator from hundreds of responses to the original question.
“The parent the child resides with is who has the LEGAL RIGHT to claim them as a dependent.”
“IRS rules for dependency are very clear cut. No court order (parenting plan nor child support order- these are 2 different things) can overrule UNLESS you fill out IRS form giving other party permission for that year. Dependency goes to the highest AGI person in household where dependent lives 6+ months a year.”
“One of the questions on the tax preparation asks who the child lives with. If he claims her and answers that question falsely, it’s fraud. She lives with you, hence the child support he’s paying. You have legal authority to claim her.”
“The custodial parent has the right to claim her. Unless there is a court order stating differently. Most custody orders / divorce decrees state who claims the child when if there’s nothing claiming that then you claim the child.”
“The custodial parent. It doesn’t matter who pays child support, it matters who actually actively supports her because child support only covers a portion of her expenses, she is dependent on the custodian for the remainder. So, you.”
“You absolutely get to claim her! He can’t do that when you have full custody of her.”
“Unless it’s outlined in a court decree, you claim her. The non-custodial parent can only claim if its outlined, and that is also typically depending on that parent being current with child support.”
“You should claim her. Also, contact the IRS (probably can do this online) and request a PIN for her. It’s an identity theft pin, so every year you would get a new one for her and it prevents him from claiming her without your knowledge and permission.”
“You claim her unless child support court has stated otherwise. The first question asked when claiming a child is ‘has this child lived with you more than six months this year.’ If he cannot truthfully say yes and he doesn’t have it in writing that he is allowed to claim her then he cannot claim her.”
“Does she live with him over half the year AND does he provide over half of ALL living expenses for her each year? If not, sorry she doesn’t qualify as his dependent. If you refuse to allow him to claim her, and he does any way, its fraud. Just report to irs if it happens. You are not wrong to say no if you are doing the majority of the supporting of your child. My ex has never claimed ours bc he knows I do most of the supporting. Luckily, hes never been foolish enough to even ask, considering the disparity in what we each contribute to their lives.”
“You claim her. I work for a tax accountant who handled this situation for me. My ex tried to claim our son one year even though I have primary custody and he lives with me. The ex was disallowed the credit and had to pay the money back.”
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