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2. Child Tax Credit
Section 24(a) provides that a taxpayer may claim a credit
for “each qualifying child”. As relevant here, a qualifying
child is defined as an individual if “the taxpayer is allowed a
deduction under section 151 with respect to such individual for
the taxable year”. Sec. 24(c)(1)(A). Petitioner is not entitled
to claim a dependency exemption deduction under section 151;
therefore, he is not entitled to claim the child tax credit.
3. Head of Household Filing Status
A taxpayer shall be considered a head of a household if
that taxpayer is not married, is not a surviving spouse as
defined in section 2(a), and maintains a household which
constitutes for more than one-half of the taxable year the
principal place of abode of a child of the taxpayer. Sec.
2(b)(1)(A)(i). The taxpayer must also furnish over half of the
cost of the household during the taxable year. Sec. 2(b)(1). As
discussed, supra, petitioner did not maintain a household that
constituted for more than one-half of the taxable year the
principal place of abode for Thomas. Accordingly, petitioner is
not entitled to head of household filing status.
B. The Constitutionality of Section 152(e)
Petitioner argues that by granting the custodial parent the
dependency exemption deduction, section 152(e) creates the
irrebuttable presumption that the custodial parent provides more
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Last modified: May 25, 2011