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[Internal Revenue Service] shows that someone else is claiming
this dependent for the same tax year.”
Discussion
The record in this case is sparse. There is no evidence of
a court decree or similar document involving Shrader and ANS’s
mother and covering the custody of ANS. Petitioner testified
that she did not know where ANS resided during 2001 and did not
know how much support her mother provided to her during 2001.
Section 151 provides an exemption deduction for qualified
dependents of a taxpayer in computing taxable income. A child of
a taxpayer is generally a dependent of the taxpayer only if the
taxpayer provides over half of the child’s support during the
taxable year. Sec. 152(a). Because petitioner cannot prove the
total amount of support for ANS provided during 2001, she cannot
establish the basic qualification for the dependency exemption.
See Beanco v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 512 (1971).
The reasonable inference from the stipulation that
petitioners made child support payments for ANS to the State of
Washington Division of Child Support and that petitioners did not
know where ANS lived during the year in issue is that Shrader was
not the custodial parent of ANS. Petitioner has not suggested
that any of the requirements for a noncustodial parent to claim
the dependency exemption have been satisfied. See generally sec.
152(e); King v. Commissioner, 121 T.C. 245, 248-249 (2003); Duby
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Last modified: May 25, 2011