If none of the taxpayers are parents of the child, who is allowed to claim the child?

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Multiple Choice

If none of the taxpayers are parents of the child, who is allowed to claim the child?

When more than one person could claim the same dependent and none is the parent, the IRS uses a tie-breaker. The first and most common tie-breaker is to award the claim to the taxpayer with the higher adjusted gross income. This approach prevents double claiming and allocates the benefit to the person who would benefit more from the tax impact of the credit. So, in this scenario, the taxpayer with the highest AGI is allowed to claim the child because neither claimant is a parent, and the tie-breaker selects the higher-AGI filer. The custodial or noncustodial parent would only apply if one of those individuals actually qualified as a parent, which isn’t the case here. And “no one can claim” isn’t correct because the tie-breaker provides a way for someone to claim when multiple filers are eligible.

When more than one person could claim the same dependent and none is the parent, the IRS uses a tie-breaker. The first and most common tie-breaker is to award the claim to the taxpayer with the higher adjusted gross income. This approach prevents double claiming and allocates the benefit to the person who would benefit more from the tax impact of the credit.

So, in this scenario, the taxpayer with the highest AGI is allowed to claim the child because neither claimant is a parent, and the tie-breaker selects the higher-AGI filer. The custodial or noncustodial parent would only apply if one of those individuals actually qualified as a parent, which isn’t the case here. And “no one can claim” isn’t correct because the tie-breaker provides a way for someone to claim when multiple filers are eligible.

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