My ex-boyfriend claimed our son his taxes...?

Question

& our child support order wasn't in place until June 1st. He didn't live with us for a majority of 2007. I told him he COULD NOT claim our son as he is a "non-custodial" parent and he did anyway & didn't give his son ANY of his tax return $... Is this legal?

Answer 1

Why don't you call the IRS and find out?  They have people available to answer these types of questions.

Answer 2

If the child lived with you and not with his dad over half the year, then his dad can't legally claim him without your written permission, or a court order saying that he can.  If you claim him and his dad does also, the IRS will investigate, and will disallow his claim.

Answer 3

1.  Reread IRS publication 501 and ensure that you are right.

2.  Fill out a 1040A and claim your son.  Fill out the zeros and attach a note that you are filing due to custody issues.

3.  The IRS will process the return and start the ball rolling on the duplicate SSN.  

4.   Since you know you didn't give the dad a signed 8832, he could only have claimed the child as a qualifying dependent, which he wasn't if father and child didn't share the same household.  The dad could have then erroneously claimed HOH status, child care, EIC in addition to the exemption, the child credit and the rebate.  It doesn't matter if he promised to share the money--he wasn't entitled to claim the child without documents.

Answer 4

No. You should claim him on your return and let the IRS sort it out.

Answer 5

no but the irs may not detect it.

Answer 6

He was the parent with some income, and so the IRS will probably not disallow the exemption.  

The parent with whom the child lives the greater amount of time has priority to claim the child, if both parents try to claim the child.  This tiebreaker rule does not apply since you did not file a tax return.

There is no requirement that he give the child part of the tax refund.  At least he had some funds to use for child support.

Answer 7

Nope.  The IRS states in order to claim a child as a dependent, the child must reside with you for more than half the year ( 6 mths and 1 day,) and you must provide 51% or more of the child's support.  Did you file taxes?  If you file (you can still file now) claim your son.  The IRS will send letters to both of you asking for proof to determine who is eligible to claim the child.  They will ask for documentation like school or doctor's records with your address on them, a copy of your lease with the child's name on it, and birth certificates.

Answer 8

You will need to speak with your lawyer or the judge -

They do have the right to claim the children they are paying support for 2 out of 3 years UNLESS it is different on the court papers.

If you get to claim you child all the time (like I do) and he claims him then you do your taxes like normal and when the IRS sends you a letter stating that he was already claimed then you call them and they will tell you to send in the proof of who has the right to claim the child and they will process your taxes and go after your ex.

Answer 9

Did you file your tax return?  You should claim your son on your own return.  The IRS will ask for information from both of you to determine who should be able to take the exemption.

If you aren't required to file a return, and if your "ex" really isn't allowed by law to claim the exemption for your son, the matter is really between him and the IRS.

Answer 10

Years ago my father did the same thing to my mother and the IRS did nothing about it except tell my mom that it was illegal. I would venture a guess that now a days they are more prone to taking action. You can call the IRS and report the situation. They should take steps from there.

Answer 11

Either parent can claim the child if they agree as to who will claim the child.  

It does not matter who supported the child, as long as the child did not provide over one half of their own support.  If the child is under 19, it does not matter who supported the child, or how much support they contributed, as long as the child did not provide over half of their own support.

If there is a court order as to who gets to claim the child, then the court order should be followed.

If there is a disagreement about who claims the child, then the IRS has a tie-breaker protocol that it follows:

Both of you are parents, so you tie on the first tie breaker.

If your son lived with you longer than he lived with his father, then IRS would award the deduction to you.  If you have not filed, then you will have to file manually, and claim your son.  The IRS will send the father and you letters asking for more information.  You will have to document that your son lived with you the longest, and the IRS should then give you the deduction and take it away from your husband.

If a child lives with both parents equally, then the IRS awards the deduction to the parent with the higher AGI.