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Petitioners filed a joint Federal income tax return for
taxable year 1998. On this return, they claimed a dependency
exemption deduction and child tax credit for Jonathan.
Petitioners did not attach to the return a written declaration
entitling them to the dependency exemption deduction. In the
statutory notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed the
deduction and credit claimed for Jonathan.
A deduction generally is allowed for each dependent of a
taxpayer under section 151. Sec. 151(a), (c)(1). As a general
rule, a child of a taxpayer is a dependent of the taxpayer only
if the taxpayer provides over half of the child’s support for the
taxable year. Sec. 152(a). A special rule applies to taxpayer-
parents who are divorced, who are separated, or who live
separately for at least the last 6 months of the calendar year,
but who have custody of the child for more than half of the year
and who together provide over half of the child’s support. Sec.
152(e)(1). Under this rule, the parent with custody of the child
for the greater portion of the year (the “custodial parent”)
generally is treated as having provided over half of the child’s
support, regardless of which parent actually provided the
support. Id.; sec. 1.152-4(b), Income Tax Regs. An exception to
this special rule exists which entitles the noncustodial parent
to the dependency exemption deduction. Sec. 152(e)(2). For the
exception to apply, the custodial parent must sign a written
declaration releasing his or her claim to the deduction, and the
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Last modified: May 25, 2011