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year of the taxpayer begins.
Generally, if a child’s parents are divorced, the child is
in the custody of one or both for the year, and the parents
provide over half of the child’s support, the custodial parent
(the parent with custody for the greater portion of the year) is
treated as having provided over half of the child’s support for
the year, and he or she may deduct the exemption amount with
respect to such child for the year. Sec. 152(e)(1). The
applicable regulations provide that “In the event of so-called
‘split’ custody, * * * ‘custody’ will be deemed to be with the
parent who, as between both parents, has the physical custody of
the child for the greater portion of the calendar year.” Sec.
1.152-4(b), Income Tax Regs.
Under section 24(a), a taxpayer is allowed a $400 credit for
each qualifying child. For purposes of section 24, a taxpayer’s
child is a qualifying child only if the taxpayer is allowed a
dependency exemption deduction for the child under section 151.
Sec. 24(c)(1). Here, if either petitioner is entitled to a
dependency exemption deduction for Diana, that petitioner is also
entitled to a child tax credit with respect to her.
Mr. Lautenberger argues that during 1998 he had physical
custody of Diana for 187 days, while Ms. Rogers had physical
custody of Diana for only 178 days. Mr. Lautenberger argues that
the difference in the number of days is attributable to a
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Last modified: May 25, 2011