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On his 1998 Federal income tax return, petitioner claimed
head-of-household filing status. Petitioner reported wage income
of $5,352 and unemployment compensation of $1,100. He also
claimed the earned income credit of $1,828, with Justice as a
qualifying child.
Respondent issued petitioner a notice of deficiency dated
November 3, 2000, determining that: (1) Petitioner was not
entitled to head-of-household filing status, and (2) petitioner
was not entitled to claim Justice as a qualifying child with
respect to the earned income credit.2 Respondent contends that
petitioner did not maintain the principal place of abode for
Justice for more than one-half of the 1998 taxable year. Rather,
respondent contends that Kim Lake did so.
Petitioner contends that the Monongalia County court order,
which granted petitioner 40 percent joint custody, does not apply
to the 1998 taxable year. Petitioner contends that he and Kim
Lake had a separate arrangement for 1998 in which he would have
custody of Justice for half the week throughout the year, but
that there was no set schedule under this arrangement.
2 In the notice of deficiency, respondent also determined
that petitioner was not entitled to a claimed dependency
exemption with respect to Justice. However, as previously
indicated, respondent conceded this issue at the time of trial.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011