Can Mom claim tax credit for child who lives with Dad?

[mariola]

My daughter is separated from her husband. Two kids age 12 and 10 live with Dad. He pays her alimony (after taxes) and he claims tax credit for one child. She takes care of children after school some days and they stay with her every second weekend.Can she claim the tax credit for the other child?

[TurboTaxKim]

No, only if the child actually "lives" with her is she able to make the claim for the Eligible Dependant Amount for that child. CRA has strict rules for claiming this amount for children as noted below. Also, if you are "required" by law to make support payments for a child, you are not able to make this claim.

"You may be able to claim this amount for one other person if at any time in the year you met all of the following conditions at once:

• You did not have a spouse or common-law partner or, if you did, you were not living with, supporting, or being supported by that person
• You supported a dependant in 2018
• You lived with the dependant (in most cases in Canada) in a home you maintained. You cannot claim this amount for a person who was only visiting you"

This information and more about claiming the Eligible Dependant Amount can be found at this CRA link: https://bit.ly/2U4mL6A