| FAQ Keyword |
2005 Tax Year |
Keyword: Dependents/Exemptions
This is archived information that pertains only to the 2005 Tax Year. If you
are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.
For head of household filing status, do you have to claim a child
as a dependent to qualify?
In certain circumstances, you do not need to claim the child as a dependent
to qualify for head of household filing status, such as when the qualifying
child is unmarried and is your child, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child.
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing
Information, for more information.
I am divorced with one dependent child. This year my ex-spouse will
claim the child as an exemption. Does this mean I cannot qualify as head of
household?
You can file as head of household even though you do not claim your unmarried
dependent child as an exemption if you meet all of the following requirements:
- You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
- A qualifying person must live with you in the home for more than half
the year (except for temporary absences such as school).
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing
Information, for more information.
I am adopting a child and do not yet have a social security number
for the child. How can I claim the exemption for the child?
Parents in the process of a domestic U. S. adoption who do not have and/or
are unable to obtain the child's Social Security Number (SSN) should request
an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN) in order to claim the child
as a dependent and (if eligible) to claim the child care credit. Form W-7A (PDF), Application for Taxpayer Identification
Number for Pending U.S. Adoptions , is used by qualifying taxpayers to
obtain an ATIN. To get Form W-7A, you may go to any IRS walk-in site or call
1-800-829-3676. You may also download the form here in
Adobe PDF format. For more information about the ATIN, refer to the Form W-7A (PDF), instructions.
If the child is not a U. S. citizen or resident, use Form W-7 (PDF), Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number ,
to obtain an ITIN. For more information, refer to Individual
Taxpayer Identification Number .
My husband and I have provided a home for my niece and her son for
the past seven months. She receives no child support from her ex-spouse, and
she does not work or have any income of her own. Can I claim her and her son
as dependents?
Under a new law effective with tax years beginning after December 31, 2004,
your niece and her son would qualify as your dependents as your qualifying
children if your niece and her son--
- Are the children or grandchildren of your brother or sister,
- Have not attained the age of 19 (or 24, in the case of full-time students)
by the close of the calendar year in which your taxable year begins,
- Had the same principal place of abode as you for more than 1/2 of your
taxable year, and
- Have not provided 1/2 of their own support during the calendar year in
which your taxable year begins.
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and
Filing Information, for more information.
Is there an age limit on claiming my children as dependents?
Age will not prevent you from claiming your children as dependents. As
long as the following four dependency exemption tests are met, you may claim
him or her:
- Citizenship or Resident test.
- Joint return test.
- Gross income test.
- Support test.
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and
Filing Information, or Tax Topic 354 , Dependents for more
information.
How do you claim a child if you agree with your ex-spouse to claim
him 6 months and he claims him the other 6 months of the year?
The dependency exemption can not be split. Generally, the custodial parent
is treated as the parent who provided more than half of the child's support.
This parent is usually allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the
other exemption tests are met. However, the noncustodial parent may be treated
as the parent who provided more than half of the child's support if certain
conditions are met.
The custodial parent signs a Form 8332 (PDF), Release
of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, or
a substantially similar statement, and provides it to the noncustodial parent
who attaches it to his or her return. Please beware that if the custodial
parent releases the exception, the custodial parent may not claim the Child
Tax Credit.
Refer to Publication 501, Exemption, Standard Deduction, and Filing
Information or Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals,
for more information on the special rule for children of divorced or separated
parents.
My wife and I are married filing separately. We have one son and
we meet all of the dependency exemption tests. We contributed an equal amount
to our son's support and want to know if we both can claim him on our separate
returns?
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction
and Filling Information, for more information.
A dependency exemption may only be claimed on one return. Since your son
is a qualifying child for both of you, you and your wife can decide who will
claim the child. If you cannot agree on who will claim him refer to Tie-Breaker
Rule in Publication 501
My husband and I were separated the last 11 months of the year and
our two children lived with me. My husband provided all the financial support.
Who can claim the children as dependents on the tax return?
Since your children lived with you for the greater part of the year, you
are considered the custodial parent and you are the parent who is eligible
to claim them as dependents on your tax return if the other dependency tests
are met. Your husband is the noncustodial parent and would only be able to
claim the children if you release your claim to the exemption by completing Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child
of Divorced or Separated Parents, or signing a substantially similar
statement. Please be aware that if you release your claim to the dependency
exemption for a child, you may not claim a Child Tax Credit for that child.
Refer to Publication 501, Exemption, Standard Deduction, and
Filing Information or Publication 504, Divorced or Separated
Individuals, for more information on the special rule for children of
divorced or separated parents.
If you pay child support, are you allowed to deduct anything on
your taxes or claim the child as an exemption?
Nothing can be deducted for the child support payments. Child support payments
are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable income to the payee. You may
be able to claim the child as a dependent. The parent who the child lived
with for the greater part of the year is the custodial parent. Generally the
custodial parent is allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the other
exemption tests are met. However, the noncustodial parent may be allowed to
claim the exemption for the child if the custodial parent signs a Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child
of Divorced of Separated Parents, or a substantially similar statement.
Please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction
and Filing Information, and Publication 504, Divorced or Separated
Individuals, for more information.
Can a court order determine who takes a child for a deduction? Does
the court order supersede the IRS requirements?
Federal law determines who may claim a dependency exemption. Please refer
to Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals, for more
information on the special rule for children of divorced or separated parents.
My son was born on December 31st. Can I claim him as a dependent?
If so, will he be also qualified for the Child Tax Credit?
If your child was born alive during the year, and the exemption tests are
met, you may take the full exemption. You may be entitled to a Child Tax Credit
for him. Please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction
and Filing Information. Please Refer to the Form 1040 Instructions for information about the Child Tax Credit.
My daughter was born at the end of the year. We are still waiting
for a social security number. Can I send in my return and later supply the
social security number for her?
If you file your return claiming your daughter as a dependent and do not
provide her social security number on the return, the dependent exemption
will be disallowed. You have two options. You could file your income tax return
without claiming your daughter as a dependent. After you receive her social
security number, you could then amend your return on Form 1040X (PDF), Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. You have
three years from the later of the due date of the return or from the date
the return was filed to amend the return.
The other option is to file a Form 4868 (PDF), Application
for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
This would give you an additional six months to file your return; by then
you should have your daughter's social security number.
References:
- Form 1040X (PDF), Amended U.S. Individual
Income Tax Return
- Form 4868 (PDF), Application for Automatic
Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return
- Tax Topic 354, Dependents
My child was stillborn. He died right before he was delivered. Can
I claim my child?
You cannot claim a dependency exemption for a stillborn child. Please refer
to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information,
for more information.
If I claim my daughter as a dependent because she is a full-time
college student, can she claim herself as a dependent when she files her return?
If you claim your daughter as a dependent on your income tax return, she
cannot claim herself on her income tax return.
If an individual is filing his or her own tax return, and the individual
can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return, the individual cannot
claim his or her own personal exemption. In this case, your daughter should
check the box on her return indicating that someone else can claim her as
a dependent.
My father is in a nursing home and I pay for the entire cost. Can
I deduct the expenses on my tax return?
You may deduct qualified medical expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse,
and your dependents, including a person you claim as a dependent under a Multiple
Support Agreement. You can also deduct medical expenses you paid for someone
who would have qualified as your dependent for the purpose of taking personal
exemptions except that the person did not meet the gross income or joint return
test.
Nursing home expenses are allowable as medical expenses in certain instances.
If you, your spouse, or your dependent is in a nursing home, and the primary
reason for being there is for medical care, the entire cost, including meals
and lodging, is a medical expense. If the individual is in the home mainly
for personal reasons, then only the cost of the actual medical care is a medical
expense, and the cost of the meals and lodging is not deductible.
You deduct medical expenses on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF), Itemized
Deductions. The total of all allowable medical expenses must be reduced
by 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income. For more information, refer to Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.
Does the Form 8332 (used to release the exemption to the noncustodial
parent) affect the Child Tax Credit?
Yes. The Child Tax Credit can only be claimed by the parent claiming the
exemption. In this case the noncustodial parent would qualify for the dependency
exemption and therefore the child tax credit. Please refer to the Form 1040 Instructions or the Form 1040A Instructions index
for Child Tax Credit. The referenced pages will explain who qualifies for
this credit, and how to calculate it.
In order to claim the earned income credit, does the child have
to be claimed as a dependent?
A qualifying child for the earned income credit does not need to qualify
as a dependent unless he or she is married.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a full discussion
of the earned income credit rules.
If the noncustodial parent receives permission from the custodial
parent to claim a child on his or her tax return, is the noncustodial parent
eligible for the earned income credit?
The noncustodial parent cannot claim the earned income credit on the basis
of that child because the child did not live with that parent and does not
meet the residency test. The custodial parent may be able to claim the earned
income credit.
Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for the earned
income credit rules.
My wife and I have two children and we are going to file separate
returns this year. Can we each claim one child for the earned income credit?
In order to qualify for the earned income credit, your filing status cannot
be married filing separately. If you are married, you usually must file a
joint return to claim the earned income credit.
However, if you are married and your spouse did not live in your home at
any time during the last 6 months of the year, you may be able to file as
head of household. In that case, you may be able to claim the earned income
credit.
Please refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for
a complete discussion of the earned income credit. Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions,
Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for the head of household
filing status rules.
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