Page 33 - 2020 Publication 17

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The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, Parents who never married. This special Joint Return Test (To Be a
and credit for other dependents, if applicable, rule for divorced or separated parents also ap- Qualifying Child)
for the child. The noncustodial parent must at- plies to parents who never married and who
tach a copy of the form or statement to his or lived apart at all times during the last 6 months To meet this test, the child can’t file a joint re-
her tax return. of the year. turn for the year.
The release can be for 1 year, for a number
of specified years (for example, alternate Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Exception. An exception to the joint return test
applies if your child and his or her spouse file a
years), or for all future years, as specified in the Child) joint return only to claim a refund of income tax
declaration. withheld or estimated tax paid.
To meet this test, the child can’t have provided
Post-1984 and pre-2009 divorce decree
or separation agreement. If the divorce de- more than half of his or her own support for the Example 1—Child files joint return. You
year.
cree or separation agreement went into effect supported your 18-year-old daughter, and she
after 1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial This test is different from the support test to lived with you all year while her husband was in
parent may be able to attach certain pages from be a qualifying relative, which is described later. the Armed Forces. He earned $25,000 for the
the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. However, to see what is or isn't support, see year. The couple files a joint return. Because
The decree or agreement must state all three of Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative), your daughter and her husband file a joint re-
the following. later. If you aren't sure whether a child provided turn, she isn't your qualifying child.
more than half of his or her own support, you
1. The noncustodial parent can claim the may find Worksheet 3-1 helpful. Example 2—Child files joint return only
child as a dependent without regard to any as a claim for refund of withheld tax. Your
condition, such as payment of support. Example. You provided $4,000 toward 18-year-old son and his 17-year-old wife had
2. The custodial parent won't claim the child your 16-year-old son's support for the year. He $800 of wages from part-time jobs and no other
has a part-time job and provided $6,000 to his
as a dependent for the year. own support. He provided more than half of his income. They lived with you all year. Neither is
required to file a tax return. They don’t have a
3. The years for which the noncustodial pa- own support for the year. He isn't your qualify- child. Taxes were taken out of their pay so they
rent, rather than the custodial parent, can ing child. filed a joint return only to get a refund of the
claim the child as a dependent. withheld taxes. The exception to the joint return
Foster care payments and expenses. Pay-
The noncustodial parent must attach all of ments you receive for the support of a foster test applies, so your son may be your qualifying
child if all the other tests are met.
the following pages of the decree or agreement child from a child placement agency are consid-
to his or her tax return. ered support provided by the agency. Similarly, Example 3—Child files joint return to
• The cover page (write the other parent's payments you receive for the support of a foster claim American opportunity credit. The
child from a state or county are considered sup-
social security number on this page). port provided by the state or county. facts are the same as in Example 2, except no
• The pages that include all of the informa- If you aren't in the trade or business of pro- taxes were taken out of your son's pay or his
tion identified in items (1) through (3) viding foster care and your unreimbursed wife's pay. However, they file a joint return to
above. out-of-pocket expenses in caring for a foster claim an American opportunity credit of $124
and get a refund of that amount. Because
• The signature page with the other parent's child were mainly to benefit an organization claiming the American opportunity credit is their
signature and the date of the agreement. qualified to receive deductible charitable contri- reason for filing the return, they aren't filing it
butions, the expenses are deductible as chari- only to get a refund of income tax withheld or
Post-2008 divorce decree or separation table contributions but aren't considered sup- estimated tax paid. The exception to the joint
agreement. The noncustodial parent can’t at- port you provided. For more information about return test doesn't apply, so your son isn't your
tach pages from the decree or agreement in- the deduction for charitable contributions, see qualifying child.
stead of Form 8332 if the decree or agreement Pub. 526. If your unreimbursed expenses aren't
went into effect after 2008. The custodial parent deductible as charitable contributions, they may
must sign either Form 8332 or a similar state- qualify as support you provided. Qualifying Child of More Than One
ment whose only purpose is to release the cus- If you are in the trade or business of provid- Person
todial parent's claim to an exemption for a child, ing foster care, your unreimbursed expenses If your qualifying child isn't a qualifying
and the noncustodial parent must attach a copy aren't considered support provided by you. child of anyone else, this topic doesn't
to his or her return. The form or statement must TIP apply to you and you don’t need to
release the custodial parent's claim to the child Example 1. Lauren, a foster child, lived read about it. This is also true if your qualifying
without any conditions. For example, the re- with Mr. and Mrs. Smith for the last 3 months of child isn't a qualifying child of anyone else ex-
lease must not depend on the noncustodial pa- the year. The Smiths cared for Lauren because cept your spouse with whom you plan to file a
rent paying support. they wanted to adopt her (although she hadn’t joint return.
The noncustodial parent must attach been placed with them for adoption). They
didn't care for her as a trade or business or to
! the required information even if it was benefit the agency that placed her in their If a child is treated as the qualifying
CAUTION filed with a return in an earlier year. home. The Smiths' unreimbursed expenses ! child of the noncustodial parent under
aren't deductible as charitable contributions but CAUTION the rules for children of divorced or
Revocation of release of claim to an ex- are considered support they provided for Lau- separated parents (or parents who live apart)
emption. The custodial parent can revoke a ren. described earlier, see Applying the tiebreaker
release of claim to an exemption. For the revo- rules to divorced or separated parents (or pa-
cation to be effective for 2020, the custodial pa- Example 2. You provided $3,000 toward rents who live apart), later.
rent must have given (or made reasonable ef- your 10-year-old foster child's support for the
forts to give) written notice of the revocation to year. The state government provided $4,000, Sometimes, a child meets the relationship, age,
the noncustodial parent in 2019 or earlier. The which is considered support provided by the residency, support, and joint return tests to be a
custodial parent can use Part III of Form 8332 state, not by the child. See Support provided by qualifying child of more than one person. Al-
for this purpose and must attach a copy of the the state (welfare, food stamps, housing, etc.), though the child is a qualifying child of each of
revocation to his or her return for each tax year later. Your foster child didn't provide more than these persons, only one person can actually
he or she claims the child as a dependent as a half of her own support for the year. treat the child as a qualifying child to take all of
result of the revocation. the following tax benefits (provided the person
Scholarships. A scholarship received by a is eligible for each benefit).
Remarried parent. If you remarry, the sup- child who is a student isn't taken into account in
port provided by your new spouse is treated as determining whether the child provided more 1. The child tax credit or credit for other de-
pendents.
provided by you. than half of his or her own support.
Chapter 3 Dependents Page 29