- 6 - entitled to a dependency exemption deduction under section 151. Sec. 24(c)(1)(A). As is applicable here, for a taxpayer to be entitled to head of household filing status for a given taxable year, the taxpayer must maintain “as his home a household which constitutes for more than one-half of such taxable year the principal place of abode” of a child of the taxpayer. Sec. 2(b)(1)(A)(i). Petitioner argues that the divorce decree provided for split physical custody and that petitioner had actual physical custody of Robert for a greater number of days in 1998 than did Ms. Mentzel. We agree that the divorce decree effectively provided for split custody between petitioner and Ms. Mentzel. However, we do not find that petitioner had actual custody of Robert for a greater number of days than did Ms. Mentzel. To corroborate petitioner’s assertion that Robert resided with him for a greater number of days, petitioner provided a calendar allegedly detailing the number of days he had physical custody of Robert during that year. The days which petitioner allegedly had custody of Robert are simply highlighted, and monthly totals such as “B-14" and “M-17" indicate the alleged total number of days petitioner and Ms. Mentzel each had custody during that month. The yearly totals indicate petitioner had custody for 186 days, Ms. Mentzel for 176 days, and child care providers for 3 days. This calendar appears to have been filledPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011