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half of a dependent's support has been provided, a prerequisite
to such a showing is the demonstration by competent evidence of
the total amount of the dependent's support from all sources for
that year. If the amount of total support is not established and
cannot be reasonably inferred from competent evidence available
to the Court, it is not possible to conclude that the taxpayer
claiming the exemption provided more than one-half of the support
of the claimed dependent.
The Court is not satisfied from the evidence that petitioner
provided more than half of the support for his son during the
year at issue. Petitioner presented no evidence to show the
total support that was provided to the child during 2001 and the
amount he provided to establish that such amount met the one-half
threshold required under section 152(a). Petitioner and his
former wife were both employed during the year 2001, and it is
logical to assume, and it was not established otherwise, that,
until petitioner and his former wife separated on July 20, 2001,
the support for the son came from petitioner as well as from the
earnings of his former wife. After July 20, 2001, the child no
longer lived with petitioner. Petitioner admitted that he
provided no support for the remainder of 2001 to his wife and
three children. He only resumed support for his children in the
year 2002, when he was ordered to do so by the Nevada divorce
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Last modified: May 25, 2011