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the mother of the child, pursuant to the court decree, had
primary physical custody of the child.
Section 151(c) allows taxpayers to deduct an annual
exemption amount for each dependent as defined in section 152.
Under section 152(a), the term “dependent” means certain
individuals, such as a son, daughter, stepson, or stepdaughter,
“over half of whose support, for the calendar year in which the
taxable year of the taxpayer begins, was received from the
taxpayer (or is treated under section (c) or (e) as received from
the taxpayer)”.
The support test in section 152(e)(1) applies if: (1) A
child receives over half of his support during the calendar year
from his parents; (2) the parents are separated under a written
separation agreement or live apart at all times during the last 6
months of the calendar year; and (3) such child is in the custody
of one or both of his parents for more than one-half of the
calendar year. If these requirements are satisfied, the “child
shall be treated, for purposes of subsection (a), as receiving
over half of his support during the calendar year from the parent
having custody for a greater portion of the calendar year (* * *
referred to as the ‘custodial parent’)”, sec. 152(e)(1)(B), thus
allowing the dependency exemption deduction to be claimed by the
“custodial parent”.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011