2006 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 116">*116 PURSUANT TO INTERNAL REVENUE CODE SECTION 7463(b), THIS OPINION MAY NOT BE TREATED AS PRECEDENT FOR ANY OTHER CASE.
COUVILLION, Special Trial Judge: This case was heard pursuant to section 7463 in effect when the petition was filed. 1 The decision to be entered is not reviewable by any other court, and this opinion should not be cited as authority.
Respondent determined a deficiency of $ 1,047 in petitioners' Federal income tax for 2001.
The sole issue for decision is whether petitioners are entitled to a dependency exemption deduction under
Some of the facts were stipulated, and those facts, 2006 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 116">*117 with the annexed exhibits, are so found and are incorporated herein by reference. At the time their petition was filed, petitioners' legal residence was Kansas City, Missouri.
Petitioner was previously married to Janice Lee Henderson (Mrs. Henderson). One child was born of that marriage. Petitioner and Mrs. Henderson were later divorced prior to the year at issue. The divorce decree provided that the child's primary residence was with Mrs. Henderson. In 1999, the State court in which they were divorced issued a judgment modifying the divorce decree with regard to petitioner's support obligations for the child. That modification, as it pertains to the issue before this Court, provided: That FATHER is awarded the tax exemption each year beginning in calendar year 1999 for the child if he makes his ordered child support (both current and arrearage) payments for that year, and MOTHER shall sign IRS Form 8332 or any other necessary documents by January 31 of the following year to ensure that FATHER receives the exemption.
Generally, the determinations of the Commissioner in a notice of deficiency are presumed correct, and the burden of proof is on the taxpayer to prove that the determinations are in error.
2006 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 116">*119
The support test in
To decide who has custody,
Petitioner, as the "noncustodial parent", is allowed to claim a child as a dependent only if one of three statutory exceptions is met. Under these exceptions, the noncustodial parent is treated as providing over half of a child's support and, therefore, entitled to the dependency exemption if, as pertains to this case: "(A) The custodial parent signs a written declaration that such custodial parent will not claim such child as a dependent", and "(B) the noncustodial parent attaches such written declaration to the noncustodial parent's return for the taxable year".
With respect to the provisions of
2006 Tax Ct. Summary LEXIS 116">*122 Petitioner argued at trial that the documentation he attached to his income tax return conformed to the substance of Form 8332. The Court disagrees. There is no statement from the former spouse as to the year or years in which the dependency exemption is released, nor does the information submitted with petitioner's income tax return include the Social Security number of his former spouse, and, most importantly, there is no signed statement by the former spouse that she would not claim the dependency exemption deduction. In fact, the parties at trial acknowledged that petitioner's former spouse had claimed the child as a dependent on her income tax return for 2001.
Although petitioner's divorce decree provides that he is entitled to the dependency exemption deduction for the child, State courts, by their decisions, cannot determine issues of Federal tax law.
Reviewed and adopted as the report of the Small Tax Case Division.
Decision will be entered for respondent.
1. Unless otherwise indicated, section references hereafter are to the Internal Revenue Code in effect for the year at issue. All Rule references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure.↩
2. Since the issue in this case is legal in nature, sec. 7491, which in some circumstances shifts the burden of proof to respondent, is not applicable here.↩
3. The Court notes that temporary regulations have binding effect and are entitled to the same weight as final regulations.
