Question

Child status to claim child tax credit

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
May 16, 2021
1 reply
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My wife and I have cared for our Grandson (has lived in our home) for more than six months in 2020. We have paid for over 90% of his daily needs while his mother, our daughter, is away at college. His mother claimed him as a dependent on her 2020 taxes. Can we still claim the Child Tax Credit for the time we have cared for him without him listed as a dependent on our taxes? If not, is there another credit or deduction we may use? Thank you.

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ColeenD3

No. The Child Tax Credit goes with the dependent. There is no splitting of benefits for a child. However, if the child lived with you for over 6 months, she can't claim them as a qualifying child. You would also have to claim him and then let the IRS sort it out. You would need proof he lived with you such as school records, doctor records, lease agreement, etc.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

The IRS has tie-breaker rules. Normally, the parent is favored, but in this case she has no right to claim her son.

Tiebreaker rules. To determine which person can treat the child as a qualifying child to claim the six tax benefits just listed, the following tiebreaker rules apply.

If only one of the persons is the child's parent, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent.
If the parents file a joint return together and can claim the child as a qualifying child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the parents.
If the parents don't file a joint return together but both parents claim the child as a qualifying child, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year. If the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time, the IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent who had the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) for the year.
If no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for the year.
If a parent can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent does so claim the child, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for the year, but only if that person's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any of the child's parents who can claim the child. If the child's parents file a joint return with each other, this rule can be applied by treating the parents' total AGI as divided evenly between them.