Children May Now be Treated As Dependent of BOTH Parents.
Aug 19, 2008 1 Replies
J
John H. Fisher
IRS Provides Circumstances Under Which a Child of Divorced or Separated Parents Will Be Treated As a Dependent of Both (Rev. Proc.
2008-48)
I expect this will make for an abundance of amended returns. I'd have to review thousands of returns to properly serve the interest of those affected. Athough I like the ruling, I'm not happy about the work it will entail-:)
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A
Arthur Kamlet
Jack
As I understand this - and it is long and filled with pointers to other code sections -- what this does is adds qualifying children to the allowed list of Dependents for Medical purposes.
It has long been the rule that a parent could claim a medical deduction for a child even if he could not claim the dependency exemption. Even if the other parent claimed the dependency exemption.
Moreover, and for this RevProc, an employer medical plan hat covers the employee's dependent child can now officially cover that child even if the other spouse claims the dependency exemption.
As I see it, this cleans up the language, and brings it into line with the Sec 152 stuff that was modified by the qualifying child rules.
Importantly, this RevProc does not allow the Dependency Exemption to go to both parents.
I think the Pub that might get modified, and then only slightly, is Pub 502 [medical] and not Pub 501 [filing status and dependency].
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