Taxes

In article , GudGye11 says...

That is not true, Krista. I'm a CPA, and have prepared tax returns and I can
tell you that just because your ex-husband would claim the child as an
exemption, that does NOT affect your status as far as filing for the earned
income credit. In other words, you would be eligible for the EIC regardless of
who claimed the child as an exemption. So you wouldn't lose out on the $2,500
per year EIC, yet your ex-husband could still get benefit of the exemption and
the $500 per year child credit.

Just thought I'd clarify that for you.
=====
I thought that was the case and advised her early in the thread to check that.
Maybe she has by now.
=====
=====

In article , GudGye11 says...

That is not true, Krista. I'm a CPA, and have prepared tax returns and I can
tell you that just because your ex-husband would claim the child as an
exemption, that does NOT affect your status as far as filing for the earned
income credit. In other words, you would be eligible for the EIC regardless of
who claimed the child as an exemption. So you wouldn't lose out on the $2,500
per year EIC, yet your ex-husband could still get benefit of the exemption and
the $500 per year child credit.

Just thought I'd clarify that for you.
=====
I thought that was the case and advised her early in the thread to check that.
Maybe she has by now.
=====
=====

In article , GudGye11 says...

That is not true, Krista. I'm a CPA, and have prepared tax returns and I can
tell you that just because your ex-husband would claim the child as an
exemption, that does NOT affect your status as far as filing for the earned
income credit. In other words, you would be eligible for the EIC regardless of
who claimed the child as an exemption. So you wouldn't lose out on the $2,500
per year EIC, yet your ex-husband could still get benefit of the exemption and
the $500 per year child credit.

Just thought I'd clarify that for you.
=====
I thought that was the case and advised her early in the thread to check that.
Maybe she has by now.
=====
=====

Okay, I did look this up, but it's all very confusing to me. I may be a
college student, but sometimes all the terms confuse me. Like, what is the
difference between a "qualifying child" and a "dependant"? When exactly
does it matter how much of the year a child lives with you vs. how much of
the child's support you pay for?

Specifically, this is my situation:

My ex sees our daughter for ~48 days of the year, the remainder she spends
with me. He pays me $435/month in child support and I have no idea how much
her actual expenses are since I've never kept track. He keeps insurance on
her, but we pay all the co-pays and excesses (the divorce decree says he's
responsible for half, but we never ask for it).

If we didn't have her, we would have a smaller apartment, so when
calculating how much of her expenses my ex and I pay for, respectively, do I
count the difference in apartment costs as expenses we pay? Not that how
much we each pay *really* matters, I'm just curious.

As I said before, I'm not against having him claim her every other year or
even every year, if it doesn't hurt our ability to claim EIC, what I have a
problem with is the WAY he brought it up. Like "you'll do this or else."
He's given us empty threats before but never followed through.

It still makes me angry when he does it, though, because it's irritating and
inconvenient to do the research to find out whether he's blowing smoke or if
he actually knows what he's talking about this time. And I just plain don't
like being threatened, even if they *are* empty threats.

--
Krista
Mother of three
Student of Psychology and Latin

Okay, I did look this up, but it's all very confusing to me. I may be a
college student, but sometimes all the terms confuse me. Like, what is the
difference between a "qualifying child" and a "dependant"? When exactly
does it matter how much of the year a child lives with you vs. how much of
the child's support you pay for?

Specifically, this is my situation:

My ex sees our daughter for ~48 days of the year, the remainder she spends
with me. He pays me $435/month in child support and I have no idea how much
her actual expenses are since I've never kept track. He keeps insurance on
her, but we pay all the co-pays and excesses (the divorce decree says he's
responsible for half, but we never ask for it).

If we didn't have her, we would have a smaller apartment, so when
calculating how much of her expenses my ex and I pay for, respectively, do I
count the difference in apartment costs as expenses we pay? Not that how
much we each pay *really* matters, I'm just curious.

As I said before, I'm not against having him claim her every other year or
even every year, if it doesn't hurt our ability to claim EIC, what I have a
problem with is the WAY he brought it up. Like "you'll do this or else."
He's given us empty threats before but never followed through.

It still makes me angry when he does it, though, because it's irritating and
inconvenient to do the research to find out whether he's blowing smoke or if
he actually knows what he's talking about this time. And I just plain don't
like being threatened, even if they *are* empty threats.

--
Krista
Mother of three
Student of Psychology and Latin

Okay, I did look this up, but it's all very confusing to me. I may be a
college student, but sometimes all the terms confuse me. Like, what is the
difference between a "qualifying child" and a "dependant"? When exactly
does it matter how much of the year a child lives with you vs. how much of
the child's support you pay for?

Specifically, this is my situation:

My ex sees our daughter for ~48 days of the year, the remainder she spends
with me. He pays me $435/month in child support and I have no idea how much
her actual expenses are since I've never kept track. He keeps insurance on
her, but we pay all the co-pays and excesses (the divorce decree says he's
responsible for half, but we never ask for it).

If we didn't have her, we would have a smaller apartment, so when
calculating how much of her expenses my ex and I pay for, respectively, do I
count the difference in apartment costs as expenses we pay? Not that how
much we each pay *really* matters, I'm just curious.

As I said before, I'm not against having him claim her every other year or
even every year, if it doesn't hurt our ability to claim EIC, what I have a
problem with is the WAY he brought it up. Like "you'll do this or else."
He's given us empty threats before but never followed through.

It still makes me angry when he does it, though, because it's irritating and
inconvenient to do the research to find out whether he's blowing smoke or if
he actually knows what he's talking about this time. And I just plain don't
like being threatened, even if they *are* empty threats.

--
Krista
Mother of three
Student of Psychology and Latin

Okay, I did look this up, but it's all very confusing to me. I may be a
college student, but sometimes all the terms confuse me. Like, what is the
difference between a "qualifying child" and a "dependant"? When exactly
does it matter how much of the year a child lives with you vs. how much of
the child's support you pay for?

Specifically, this is my situation:

My ex sees our daughter for ~48 days of the year, the remainder she spends
with me. He pays me $435/month in child support and I have no idea how much
her actual expenses are since I've never kept track. He keeps insurance on
her, but we pay all the co-pays and excesses (the divorce decree says he's
responsible for half, but we never ask for it).

If we didn't have her, we would have a smaller apartment, so when
calculating how much of her expenses my ex and I pay for, respectively, do I
count the difference in apartment costs as expenses we pay? Not that how
much we each pay *really* matters, I'm just curious.

As I said before, I'm not against having him claim her every other year or
even every year, if it doesn't hurt our ability to claim EIC, what I have a
problem with is the WAY he brought it up. Like "you'll do this or else."
He's given us empty threats before but never followed through.

It still makes me angry when he does it, though, because it's irritating and
inconvenient to do the research to find out whether he's blowing smoke or if
he actually knows what he's talking about this time. And I just plain don't
like being threatened, even if they *are* empty threats.

--
Krista
Mother of three
Student of Psychology and Latin