William T. Elliott - Page 5

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          year.  Rose v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 28 (1970).  Thus, a taxpayer           
          must follow the reporting requirements in any given taxable year            
          to be entitled to a credit even if the Commissioner did not                 
          challenge a similarly claimed credit in a prior year.  As a                 
          result, what happened with petitioner's past tax returns is not             
          relevant to the decision in this case.                                      
               Respondent argues that petitioner had no qualifying children           
          in 2000 because no individual met the relationship and residency            
          requirements of section 32(c)(3).                                           
               To be eligible to claim an earned income credit with respect           
          to a qualifying child, a taxpayer must establish:  (1) The child            
          bears the relationship to the taxpayer prescribed by section                
          32(c)(3)(B); (2) the child meets the age requirements of section            
          32(c)(3)(C); and (3) the child shares the same principal place of           
          abode as the taxpayer for more than one-half of the taxable year            
          as prescribed by section 32(c)(3)(A)(ii).                                   
               As is relevant to the relationship test, the definition of a           
          qualifying child includes a child or a stepchild of the taxpayer.           
          Sec. 32(c)(3).  Petitioner's position is that Ashton and Marquin            
          were qualifying children for purposes of the earned income credit           
          because they are his stepchildren.  Petitioner claims they                  
          qualify as his stepchildren because he and Ms. Huff were in a               
          valid "common law" marriage pursuant to the laws of the State of            








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