According to the IRS, both parents can claim a child on their taxes if they are filing jointly. However, if the parents are filing separately then the rules change. In order to determine who is qualified to claim for the child the IRS uses the tie-breaker rules. Therefore, the parent with whom the child has lived the longest during the course of the year will be eligible to claim the child on
. his or her taxes or to treat the child as a qualifiying child. In another scenario where the child has lived with both parents an equal amount of time during the course of the year, then the parent who has the highest adjusted gross income would qualify to claim the child on his or her taxes. When all is said and done, the IRS will not pay a refund twice for the same child. For more information visit the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/faqs/index.html.
