coyote5
Footballguy
I got divorced in 2014 and have joint custody of my 7 year old son. Placement is 50/50. We agreed that we will alternate who claims him for tax purposes year to year. 2014 is my year to claim him.
I filed as head of household and completed my taxes yesterday through TaxAct and everything was fine until I submitted. Both Federal and State were rejected because my ex claimed her portion of childcare paid for the childcare credit. I claimed my share on my return as well.
My questions -
1. Can one single parent claim the child for the exemption and the other single parent report the childcare costs (their portion only)? I understand that both parents cannot report their respective childcare costs but I'm unclear as to whether one can claim as a dependent and the other can claim the costs. It doesn't seem like you could.
2. In my 50/50 placement situation will we need to file form 8332 in alternating years to release claim to the dependency exemption? Or as long as only one of us claims him will the IRS not care?
3. Can only one of us claim head of household each year? I believe one of the tests for that status is that the child lived in the household for over half the year. So it seems like the parent claiming the dependent is the one who claims HoH...
Is there anything else I'm missing? After typing this all out I'm wondering if we need to sit down with a tax professional to plan out tax strategy long term as we alternate years.
I filed as head of household and completed my taxes yesterday through TaxAct and everything was fine until I submitted. Both Federal and State were rejected because my ex claimed her portion of childcare paid for the childcare credit. I claimed my share on my return as well.
My questions -
1. Can one single parent claim the child for the exemption and the other single parent report the childcare costs (their portion only)? I understand that both parents cannot report their respective childcare costs but I'm unclear as to whether one can claim as a dependent and the other can claim the costs. It doesn't seem like you could.
2. In my 50/50 placement situation will we need to file form 8332 in alternating years to release claim to the dependency exemption? Or as long as only one of us claims him will the IRS not care?
3. Can only one of us claim head of household each year? I believe one of the tests for that status is that the child lived in the household for over half the year. So it seems like the parent claiming the dependent is the one who claims HoH...
Is there anything else I'm missing? After typing this all out I'm wondering if we need to sit down with a tax professional to plan out tax strategy long term as we alternate years.