If you're a divorced parent—or you were never married to your child's other parent—you may wonder whether you can claim your child on your taxes. As a general rule, the answer will depend on your child custody arrangements. But there is a way around that rule for divorced or separated parents. Read on to learn how that works, as well as the benefits of claiming children on taxes.
No. When parents are divorced (or separated and not filing jointly), only one of them is allowed to claim a child on their taxes. Parents can't split or share the tax benefits for dependent children in any year—although they may alternate years in which one of them claims the kids (more on that below).
When parents are divorced or legally separated, the custodial parent generally has the right to claim a qualifying child as a dependent on their tax return. Under the IRS definition, the custodial parent is the parent whom the child lives with for more than half the nights during the year. If each parent has the child for an equal number of nights in the year, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) will be considered the custodial parent. (Note that this definition may be different than how the child custody laws in your state define a custodial parent.)
Despite this general rule, the noncustodial parent may claim a child as a dependent on their tax return for any year when the custodial parent releases the dependency exemption by signing a written declaration or Form 8332 for that year. The noncustodial parent must submit the signed declaration or form with their tax return for each year when claiming the child as a dependent—otherwise, the IRS won't allow the exemption.
This dependency release only applies to some of the child-related tax benefits, including the dependency exemption and the child tax credit (discussed below). Even with a release, the noncustodial parent may not claim the child for the earned income credit, the child care credit, or head of household filing status.
When you're negotiating a custody agreement or a comprehensive divorce settlement agreement, you and your co-parent may agree to take turns claiming your child or children as dependents in alternating years. Or, if you have multiple children, the custodial parent may agree to release the exemption for one or more of them each year. These arrangements are especially common when parents share joint custody. In cases when parents aren't able to reach an agreement, a judge might order the custodial parent to release the dependency exemption on alternate years.
Even when you have an agreement that's part of your divorce decree (or another court order), the custodial parent might not always follow through. If your ex hasn't turned over the signed release (as discussed above) for any year when they're supposed to do so, the IRS won't help you. Instead, you'll have to go back to family court to enforce its order. You may ask the judge to order your ex to reimburse you for any tax benefits you lost because you weren't able to claim your children on your return for the year(s) in question.
To help offset the costs of raising children, the IRS offers parents a variety of tax credits for qualifying dependent children. Some of the qualification rules depend on the specific benefit. But under the basic eligibility requirements for dependent children, the child must:
For the tax years 2018 through 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) suspended the deduction for personal exemptions, while increasing the standard deduction. So even if you claim a child as a dependent on your taxes, the amount of the exemption will be zero on tax returns through 2025 (unless Congress extends this provision in future years).
However, you can still take advantage of some other child-related tax benefits (discussed below) if you're eligible to claim an exemption for your child.
You may be entitled to the child tax credit if you're entitled to claim your qualifying child as a dependent on your taxes. Under the rules in effect for 2018 through 2025 (except 2021), the full child tax credit is $2,000 per child but is gradually phased out for individual taxpayers with incomes above a certain threshold (which was $200,000 in 2024).
Most of the qualification requirements for the child tax credit are the same as the general requirements for the dependency exemption, except the age threshold. You may only claim the child tax credit for a child who was younger than 17 at the end of the tax year.
The child tax credit is partially refundable, meaning that you may collect a portion of it as a refund if you don't use the entire benefit because your income is relatively low. The refundable portion is called the "additional child tax credit" (ACTC).
In some cases, custodial parents may get a tax credit for work-related childcare expenses for qualifying children who are younger than 13. The child must live with the parent for more than half the year—so this credit isn't available to noncustodial parents, even if the custodial parent has released the dependency exemption.
IRS Publication 503 explains the full requirements and amount of the credit for childcare expenses in the current tax year.
Low-income workers may qualify for the earned income tax credit (EITC) even if they don't claim children on their taxes. However, the income levels to qualify for this credit are higher if you have one or more qualifying children who live with you for more than half the year (so it's not available to noncustodial parents even if the custodial parent has released the dependency exemption).
The EITC is a refundable tax credit. It reduces the amount of taxes you owe, and you can get a refund if the amount of the credit is more than what you owe in taxes.
If you qualify to file your taxes using the head of household filing status, you'll generally have a higher standard deduction and lower tax rate than if you file as single.
You may be eligible to use the head of household filing status if you:
Head of household filing status isn't available to noncustodial parents, even if the custodial parent has released the dependency exemption.
You can find more details about the qualifications for dependent children, as well as filing status, in IRS Publication 501. If you're still unsure as to whether you can claim your child on your tax return, a tax attorney or other tax specialist should be able to answer your questions.
If you're preparing for divorce or in the process of getting divorced, you may want to speak with a divorce lawyer about the tax consequences of your custody arrangements or other issues in ending your marriage. And if you're trying to enforce any tax-related provisions in your settlement agreement or divorce decree—such as a requirement that the custodial parent provide a written release for the tax exemption in certain years—you'll probably need the help of an experienced family law attorney.