You have a child, and they live with you at least some of the time, so they're your dependent at tax time, right? Not exactly, and you certainly wouldn't be the first parent or the last to claim your child as your dependent only to find out that their other parent has already done so.
It happens often enough that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has special "tiebreaker" rules to help you determine which of you actually has the right to claim a dependent.
Key Takeaways
- The IRS has tiebreaker rules that apply to deciding which parent has the right to claim their child as a dependent if they no longer live together and don't file a joint married return.
- The parent with whom a child spends the most overnights is entitled to claim them as a dependent.
- The parent with the highest adjusted gross income (AGI) is awarded the right if the child spends an equal number of nights with each of them.
- A parent always has the first right to claim their child as a dependent if they're able to do so.
The Tiebreaker Rules
The IRS indicates that the parent who can claim a childis the one who meets the following criteria.
First, the claim goes to the parent with whom the child lived the most during the tax year. The IRS defines this by "overnights" rather than days. These are the nights where they went to bed in one parent's home or the other, vacations included.This typically means that the dependency exemption goes to the custodial parent, the one who has legal custody of the child by court order, because the other parent has only visitation or occasional parenting time.
Assuming the childdidspend exactly the same number of overnights in each parent's home during the tax year—or maybe the parents live together but can't or don't file a joint married return—the tiebreaker rules give the dependency exemption to the parent with the higher adjusted gross income.
If someone other than a parent is trying to claim your child, they're out of luck. A parent always has the first right to claim their child as a dependent if they're able to do so. The IRS gives a detailed explanation of circ*mstances under which neither parent might be able to claim their child in Publication 504. It's rare, but it does occasionally happen.
Does Claiming Your Child Affect Your Tax Situation?
Claiming your child as a dependent can save you some tax dollars if you meet the requirements.
The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated personal exemptions from the tax code through at least 2025. You could claim an exemption for yourself, your spouse, and each one of your dependents up until 2018. But claiming a dependent can qualify you for several advantageous tax credits and tax deductions, and it can affect your filing status, which can create other tax reductions.
It will trigger an IRS audit using the tiebreaker rules to determine who gets to claim the child if both you and your former partner file returns claiming them and neither of you is willing to amend your return to reverse the claim.
You Can Relinquish Your Claim
A custodial parent can give the noncustodial parent the right to claim their child by signing Form 8332. Your former partner can submit it with their tax return. You should sign this form for every year you plan to relinquish the exemption claim. You might want to do this if it provides them with a tax break but has no effect on your tax situation, particularly while personal exemptions are repealed.
Note
You can resubmit Form 8332 to revoke the release if you change your mind.
Who Else Might Have Claimed Your Child?
The IRS can't tell you who claimed your dependent because it's prohibited by Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code. The agency can't disclose information relating to a tax return to anyone other than the filer. That said, you probably have a good idea of who, if anyone, claimed your child. The culprit would have to know the child's name, their Social Security number, and their date of birth.
But it isn't always the child's other parent who tries to claim them. Maybe your former partner and your child are living with another relative who thinks they're entitled.
What To Do if the Wrong Person Has Claimed Your Child
Print out your tax return listingthe correct dependents, and file the return with the IRS if your child has been claimed by someone else. You'll have to mail the return for manual processing.
The next step is to prepare yourself for an audit if the individual who claimed your child won't file an amended return revoking the claim. The IRS will audit both your tax return and that of the other party.It will ask questions and seek documentation based on the eligibility criteria and the tiebreaker tests.
Gather any and all records indicating that your child lived with you and when. Ideally, you have a custody order or agreement detailing exactly when your child resides in your residence. School and medical records can also be helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who can claim a dependent child on their taxes?
To claim a dependent child, no one else may be able to claim you as a dependent on their tax return. Your dependent must also be a U.S. citizen,resident alien, national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. In most cases, they must also:
- Be your child or a legal descendent of your children or your siblings
- Be younger than you and under age 19 at the end of the year (or under 24 if a full-time student)
- Have lived with you for more than half the year
- Have not provided more than half of their support during the year
How do you claim a dependent on your taxes?
You must provide their name, relationship to you, date of birth, and Social Security number on Form 1040 to claim a dependent when you file your taxes.
FAQs
Assuming you entered your dependent's information correctly, it looks like someone else claimed your dependent. Because the IRS processes the first return it receives, if another person claims your dependent first, the IRS will reject your return. The IRS won't tell you who claimed your dependent.
What happens if multiple people claim the same dependent? ›
Assuming you entered your dependent's information correctly, it looks like someone else claimed your dependent. Because the IRS processes the first return it receives, if another person claims your dependent first, the IRS will reject your return. The IRS won't tell you who claimed your dependent.
What are the tiebreaker rules for dependents? ›
Only one taxpayer can claim each dependent; IRS rules prohibit parents from "splitting" a dependent. When the child lives with each parent exactly equally, the tiebreaker goes to the parent with the higher adjusted gross income. The parent who has majority custody usually gets to claim the child as a dependent.
Which of the following statements regarding the tiebreaker rules for claiming benefits? ›
Explanation: The statement that is TRUE regarding the "tiebreaker" rules for claiming benefits, including the Earned Income Credit (EIC), is: If the parents are not filing jointly, the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year takes precedence.
How many people can claim you as a dependent on their tax return? ›
General rules for dependents
A person can't be claimed as a dependent on more than one tax return, with rare exceptions. A dependent can't claim a dependent on their own tax return. You can't claim your spouse as a dependent if you file jointly. A dependent must be a qualifying child or qualifying relative.
What are the tiebreaker rules for the IRS? ›
Under the tie-breaker rule, the child is treated as a qualifying child:
- The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent,
- The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together,
At any time, contact us here at eFile.com or call the IRS support line at 1-800-829-1040 and inform them of the situation. Or, take advantage of low-income tax clinics if this applies to you.
What is the tie-breaker rule? ›
As discussed above, purpose of Tie Breaker Rules, is to attribute the tax residency of an individual to one country, so that, double payment of taxation is avoided. Tie Breaker based on Permanent Home An individual is considered to be tax resident of the country, where he has a permanent home available to him .
How is a tiebreaker determined? ›
If two teams are tied in the division standings, the first tiebreaker is their head-to-head record against each other. From there, if the tied teams have an identical head-to-head record, the next tiebreaker is their divisional record. Following that, he next tiebreaker is their record against common opponents.
What are the basic rules for claiming a dependent? ›
The IRS defines a dependent as a qualifying child (under age 19 or under 24 if a full-time student, or any age if permanently and totally disabled) or a qualifying relative. A qualifying dependent cannot provide more than half of their own annual support.
The statistics that are compared may include total goals scored, the record between the two tied teams, and other factors. In many of these tiebreaking rules, if the teams remain tied after comparing all of these statistics, then the tie is broken at random using a coin toss or a drawing of lots.
What is the tie-breaker rule for IRAS? ›
Tiebreaker Rules
If the child meets the conditions to be the qualifying child of more than one person, only one person can claim the child as a qualifying child dependent for all tax benefits associated with an exemption unless the special rule for children of divorced or separated parents applies1.
What is the tie-breaker clause? ›
The tie-break provision is only available where an employer reasonably thinks that people who share a protected characteristic suffer a disadvantage connected to the characteristic or that participation in an activity by people sharing a protected characteristic is disproportionately low.
What happens if 2 people claim the same dependent on taxes? ›
A child can only be claimed as a dependent on one tax return per tax year. The first tax return filed with a dependent's tax ID number will be accepted. The IRS will reject all other e-filed returns with that same dependent.
Can more than one person claim a dependent on taxes? ›
Sometimes a child meets the tests to be a qualifying child of more than one person. But, only one person can treat that child as a qualifying child. If you and someone else (other than your spouse if filing jointly) can both claim a child, you and the other person(s) can decide which of you will claim the child.
Can you claim 6 dependents on your taxes? ›
Although there are limits to specific dependent credits, there's no maximum number of dependent exemptions you can claim. If a person meets the requirements for a qualifying child or relative, you can claim him or her as a dependent. You can do this as a single filer and regardless of your filing status.
What happens if someone else claims me as a dependent? ›
If someone has incorrectly claimed you, it may cause your return to be rejected. You will be unable to electronically file since the IRS system will require you to indicate you can be claimed. You will need to print, sign, and mail your return to the IRS for processing.
Can my ex get in trouble for claiming my child on taxes? ›
Unless the court has explicitly stated otherwise, the custodial parent is the one who has the right to claim the children as dependents on their tax returns. When the other parent violates this order by claiming the dependents for themself, it's the same as failing to pay child support or other breach.
How to stop another parent from claiming a child on taxes? ›
The custodial parent signs a Form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent or a substantially similar statement, and. The noncustodial parent attaches the Form 8332 or a similar statement to his or her return.
Does claiming 2 dependents affect my paycheck? ›
Claiming fewer allowances on Form w-4 will result in more tax being withheld from your paychecks and less take-home pay. This might result in a larger tax refund. On the other hand, claiming too many allowances could mean that not enough tax is withheld during the year.
