Term
| What two filing statuses require that a taxpayer have at least one dependent? |
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Definition
| The filing statuses head of household and qualifying widow(er) require the taxpayer to have at least one dependent. |
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Term
| What is head of household? |
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Definition
| Head of household is the filing status used by an unmarried taxpayer who pays more than half of the cost of maintaining a household for a qualifying child who is a dependent for more than six months or for his or her mother or father for the entire year and may claim either on his or her tax return. |
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Term
| What is qualifying widow(er)? |
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Definition
| Qualifying widow(er) is the filing status available to a qualified taxpayer for two tax years following the year of the spouse's death. |
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Term
| What are the qualifications for qualifying widow(er) filing status. |
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Definition
| To qualify for qualifying widow(er) filing status, the surviving spouse must have been entitled to file a joint return for the year of death, remain unmarried at the end of the current tax year, and pay over half the cost of maintaining his or her home which was the principal residence the entire tax year of his or her dependent child. |
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Term
| What costs are included when determining the costs of maintaining a household for head of household status? |
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Definition
| For determining the cost of maintaining a household for determining head of household include: rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, insurance on the home, property taxes, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home. Use the Federal Head of Household Support Worksheet (FDHHSUP) to determine the cost of maintaining the household. |
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Term
| What costs are not included when determining the costs of maintaining a household for head of household status? |
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Definition
| Costs not considered in determining head of household status include: clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, transportation, rental value of a home owned by the taxpayer, or services provided by the taxpayer or others. Use the Federal Head of Household Support Worksheet (FDHHSUP) to determine the cost of maintaining the household. |
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Term
| What are four exceptions to the head of household requirements? |
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Definition
| Four exceptions to head of household requirements are: (1) married qualifying child, (2) non-relative dependent, (3) multiple support agreements, and (4) non-resident aliens. |
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Term
| What is the married qualifying child exception to the head of household requirements? |
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Definition
| The qualifying child of a taxpayer for head of household purposes cannot be married unless the taxpayer can claim the exemption for that child. |
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Term
| What is the non-relative dependent exception to the head of household requirements? |
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Definition
| A dependent who meets the relationship test because they live in the same household with the taxpayer for the entire year cannot qualify the taxpayer for head of household status. To qualify the taxpayer for head of household, the dependent must actually be related to the taxpayer as indicated in the relationship test for qualifying relative. |
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Term
| What is the multiple support agreements exception to the head of household requirements? |
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Definition
| A taxpayer who has a dependent because of a multiple support agreement cannot file as head of household. If the taxpayer has a qualifying relative dependent, he must have provided over half of the support for that dependent by himself. |
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Term
| What is the non-resident alien exception to the head of household requirements? |
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Definition
| A taxpayer who is a non-resident alien for any part of the tax year may not file head of household. |
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Term
| How can a legally married person be considered unmarried for tax purposes? |
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Definition
| To be considered unmarried for tax purposes, a married person must be legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance or meet all of the following: (1) file a separate return, (2) provide more than half the cost of maintaining their home, (3) home must have been principal abode for the taxpayer and dependent son, daughter, or eligible foster child for more than one-half the year, and (4) the spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the year. |
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Term
| For tax purposes, how is the custodial parent determined? |
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Definition
| For tax purposes, the custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the non-custodial parent. |
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Term
| For tax purposes, how is the non-custodial parent determined? |
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Definition
| For tax purposes, the non-custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived the least number of nights during the year. The other parent is the custodial parent. |
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Term
| If the number of nights is equal, how is the custodial parent determined? |
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Definition
| If the number of nights is equal, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher AGI. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Head of household filing status can be claimed by the non-custodial parent? |
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Definition
| FALSE. Head of household status may only be claimed by the custodial parent. Head of household status cannot travel. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Credit for day care can be claimed by the non-custodial parent? |
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Definition
| False. Credit for day care cannot be claimed by the non-custodial parent. Day care credit cannot travel. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: Additional child tax credit can be claimed by the non-custodial parent? |
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Definition
| True. Additional child tax credit may be claimed by the non-custodial parent. Additional child tax credit may travel. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: The dependency exemption can be claimed by the non-custodial parent? |
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Definition
| True. The dependency exemption may be claimed by the non-custodial parent. Form 8332 should be used any time a custodial parent is sharing benefits with the non-custodial parent. The dependent exemption may travel.If the non-custodial parent is allowed to take the dependency exemption for a qualifying child, he is also allowed to claim the child tax credit for that child. |
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Term
| TRUE or FALSE: The child tax credit may be claimed by the non-custodial parent. |
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Definition
| True. The child tax credit may be claimed by the non-custodial parent. If the non-custodial parent is allowed to take the dependency exemption for a qualifying child, he is also allowed to claim the child tax credit for that child. Form 8332 should be used any time a custodial parent is sharing benefits with the non-custodial parent. The child tax credit may travel. |
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Term
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Definition
| Form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claims to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents is used by the custodial parent to waive the right to claim a dependency exemption for a qualifying child, allowing a non-custodial parent to do so. |
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Term
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Definition
| Beginning with 2009 tax returns, divorce decrees or other court documents issued in 2009 do not serve to release the child's exemption to the non-custodial parent. Agreements effective after 1984 and before 2009 must state three facts: (1) the non-custodial parent can claim the child as a dependent without regard to any conditions, such as payment of support, (2) the custodial parent will not claim the child as a dependent for the year, and (3) the years for which the non-custodial, rather than the custodial parent can claim the child as a dependent. |
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Term
| When are tie-breaker dependency rules used? |
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Definition
| Only one taxpayer may claim an individual as a qualifying child. In the case where an individual can be the qualifying child of more than one taxpayer, there are a set of tie-breaker rules. |
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Term
| What are the tie-breaker dependency rules? |
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Definition
| The IRS tie-breaker dependency rules will award the qualifying child to a particular taxpayer in the following order: (1) parent, (2) longer parent, (3) richer parent, (4) richer non-parent. |
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Term
| How are dependency rules for step-children affected by divorce? |
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Definition
| For tax purposes, a relationship established by marriage is not terminated by divorce. Even if a couple later divorces, any stepparent/stepchild relationships established still exist for tax purposes and are subject to the rules for divorced or separated parents. |
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