Ella Louise Wooten - Page 4




                                        - 4 -                                         

          Wooten was the custodial parent of the two children and was thus            
          treated as providing over half of their support for each year,              
          regardless of the actual support provided by petitioner.  Section           
          151(c) allows taxpayers to deduct an annual exemption amount for            
          each dependent, as defined in section 152.  Under section 152(a),           
          the term "dependent" means certain individuals, such as a son or            
          daughter, over half of whose support was received from the                  
          taxpayer (or is treated under subsections (c) or (e) as received            
          from the taxpayer) during the taxable year in which such                    
          individuals are claimed as dependents.                                      
               The support test in section 152(e)(1) applies if:  (1) A               
          child receives over half of his support during the calendar year            
          from his parents; (2) the parents are divorced under a decree of            
          divorce; and (3) such child is in the custody of one or both of             
          his parents for more than one half of the calendar year.  If                
          these requirements are satisfied, as in the present case, the               
          "child shall be treated, for purposes of subsection (a), as                 
          receiving over half of his support during the calendar year from            
          the parent having custody for a greater portion of the calendar             
          year (* * * referred to as the custodial parent)" thus allowing             
          the dependency exemption to be claimed by the "custodial parent".           
          Sec. 152(e)(1).                                                             
               To decide who has custody, section 1.152-4(b), Income Tax              
          Regs., provides that custody will be determined by the terms of             





Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  Next

Last modified: May 25, 2011