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Who gets to claim the tax deduction for the children?

Marie Hillman • Mar 07, 2017

April is quickly approaching and that means – tax time – and here is the question I hear from many divorced people? “Who gets to claim […] The post Who gets to claim the tax deduction for the children? appeared first on Hillman Law Firm.

April is quickly approaching and that means – tax time – and here is the question I hear from many divorced people?

“Who gets to claim the tax deduction for the children?”

In Louisiana, the basic rule is that the custodial or domiciliary parent gets to claim the child or children’s tax deduction for both federal and state taxes. However, there are exceptions to this rule:

If the non-domiciliary parent pays over 50% of total child support obligation, he or she can request and be awarded this deduction if the judge finds that:

  1. No arrearages are owed, AND
  2. The right to claim the dependency deduction would substantially benefit the non-domiciliary party without significantly harming the domiciliary party.

Consequently, this is an issue that should be addressed in a custody judgment so that the parties know what to expect. In cases where the parties have similar income, parties sometimes will alternate years or alternate the number of children.  I have even seen judgments where both parties calculate what amount of benefit they would each receive and then one parent can “buy-out” the other if they would receive a greater benefit by making the claim. There are creative ways the parties can work this out.

Contact me with any of your divorce needs: marie@hillmanplc.com

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only. Nothing in this article is or should be considered legal advice. The information in this article is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and viewing or receipt of information from this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.

 

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