EIC

[10409000]

Hi, parents married living apart for 3 years.. they each claim 1 child each that they have together. i ask them how many months out of the year the child lives with them and they tell me 50/50.. i wasnt sure if i can do the person with the lowest income claim 1 kid fully to get HOH, and then claim 2nd child to increase her EIC.. the dad claims his parents so he is already HOH..but due to income being high all he gets its CTC of 2,000...can they determine who is custodial parent? so that way i can have the dad sign off the eic/hoh credits over to the lower income mom? i dont want to make any errors or do something wrong I want to do it right in the yes of the IRS and most beneficial for my client. What are your thoughts? Does anyone have a worksheet for a #of nights checklist lol or anything i can give my client to fill out to help them determine who had the child the longest when they say 50/50? 

Edit: I got my answer. Tie breaker rules dont apply here due to residency not being greater than 51 days or or more so since its equal days spent then i have to follow the rule that the person with the highest AGI must claim the child" I just get confused when reading it says "in most cases" so i wonder what the not most cases are and that is when i question..but i see it more clear now. Thank you everyone!

[Dusty2 · Accepted solution]

" i ask them how many months out of the year the child lives with them and they tell me 50/50"

I tell my clients that neither one of them can claim the child.  I then tell them I need to know which parent the child slept with every night of the year

"can they determine who is custodial parent?" 

That is tax fraud and if my clients want to do this I ask them to find a different preparer.

You need to review the rules so you are strongly familiar with them and don't get into doing something that can get you big fines!

Dusty

[10409000]

ok thank you so much i appreciate your response. I will handle the same way you do 

[IRonMaN]

Unless it is a leap year, neither parent is going to have the kids 50-50.  In a 365 day year, one of the parents has to have had the kids at least one more night than the other.

[Terry53029]

 

Custodial parents generally claim the qualifying child as a dependent on their return.

• 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.
• In most cases, because of the residency test, the custodial parent claims the child on their tax return.
• 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.

[10409000]

Thank you! I get so confused with tiebreaker (where the parents get to choose so i assume since it was 50/50 i might be able to apply tiebreaker but in fact i can't and must go with the higher income rule when its equal number of nights) and I get things mixed up but after reading your message it helps confirm what i read for residency. I appreciate your feedback.