Question

Robbie and Cate were divorced in 2012 and neither one has remarried. They have one daughter, Amy, age 9, who lives with Cate. Robbie and Cate provide all of Amy's support. Robbie has earned income of $19,500 and his AGI is $22,500. Cate has earned income of $22,000 and her AGI is $23,000. In 2013 Cate signed Form 8332 to allow Robbie to claim Amy as a dependent for all future years. If Robbie and Cate meet the other requirements, who can claim Amy as a dependent, as a qualifying child for head of household filing status, child tax credit and/or the additional child tax credit, child and dependent care credit and EIC?

Answer 1

Cate can claim Amy as a dependent.

Explanation:

The custodial parents can claim their child as the dependent, as a qualifying child for head of household filing status, for EIC, for the child tax credit and so on. But in case the parents get divorced, then the parent with whom the child spends the most time gets to claim the child as dependent.

In the above case, since Amy stays with Cate, Cate gets to claim Amy as dependent because she is staying with Cate only and spends the most time with her.