Question

My divorce was final in 2021. I received all of the $3000 tax credit. The letter I received says $1500. Should I match the letter or be accurate?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
April 10, 2022
1 reply
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I feel like $3000 is accurate, but everywhere says to match your letter. And my ex claimed 0. If his return is adjusted to the correct $1500, he'll probably ask me to pay him that money back.

TurboTax Deluxe Online

KrisD15

"My divorce was final in 2021. I received all of the $3000 tax credit. The letter I received says $1500."

I am not sure what is meant by "I received all of the $3000 tax credit" but I assume that means you received the payments, not that it was allocated in your divorce decree. I also assume you are talking about Advance Child Tax Credit payments.

The credit should have been addressed in your divorce decree, but if it wasn't, enter what the letter reports unless you don't mind a delay in the process of your return.

Almost without doubt your ex will have that amount adjusted on his return regardless to what you report.

If you report the full amount, your return most likely will experience a delay and the IRS most likely will adjust it back to only claiming half.

You would be better off working it out with your ex (just give him 1,500 and have him claim it) but ultimately it is a personal choice.

The IRS will NOT decide who should claim what in this situation.

Your ex could have updated his information in the IRS website to indicate that he would not be eligible to claim the child as a dependent and did not want the advance payments.

Only a court order could interfere.

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U

UserTNAuthor

Our decree didn't address this issue.

I am referring to the advance payments. They were automatically directly deposited into our joint bank account, which I ended up with after the divorce.

I wanted to match the amounts on the letters and pay him back if need be, but he refused. So, here I am!

DanielV01

Employee

This answer is based on you filing your 2020 return as Married Filing Joint. Under that premise, you report what you received, and your ex does the same. This will show you receiving additional Child Tax Credit (and possibly stimulus, or Recovery Rebate Credit) as well, provided you are in the income ranges that allow you to receive the additional amount. If his income is too high for him to have received the Advance Child Tax payments after having reconciled the payments attributed to him, he will be forced to pay back some or all of those payments. He will not be forced to pay back any stimulus payments that are attributed to him.

This is how the IRS has reported these payments to the both of you and how you (and he) in turn must report back to the IRS on your tax returns. Not doing so will result in the IRS recalculating your advance payment amounts and only delay processing. This is the answer you need for tax advice. For any legal implications associated with your divorce decree, you will need to consult your attorney.

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