Separated with 50/50 custody

[mg233gm]

Separated & have shared custody of two kids (kid A and kid B). Do we both (ex and I) claim A & B as dependents on our returns but I would claim A as my eligible dependent & he claims B as his?
Neither of us pays child or spousal support. 

[Stefan P]

If neither of you pays child support and there is no specific court decision about this, when you have joint custody of your children, each parent can claim the amount for an eligible dependent for one child as long as you agree on who will claim child A and who will claim child B. 

[laframboise007]

Do you still add both kids information but only click the box for eligible dependent for one child? Or do you only put one childs information in? 

[TurboTaxSusan]

@laframboise007 

You can do it either way. You don't need to put the other child's information in if you are not claiming any credits based on that child.

[laframboise007]

When i add both kids in (only claiming one child for eligible dependent tax credit) .. it in increases my tax return by $600. It also doubles the amount given for CCB benefits. 

[TurboTaxBrenda]

If you enter both children as your dependents and claim 1 as an eligible dependent, it will give you a higher refund. The CCB is an estimate only; the CRA will advise you of the correct amount once they have assessed your return. 

Here is a great CRA link to review about shared custody.

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

[laframboise007]

Thank you so much for the replies! Just wanted to check again to make sure .. my ex husband can also list both kids as dependents but claim the eligible dependent tax credit for the child I did not claim?

[TurboTaxSusan]

@laframboise007 Yes, he can.

[Jfitzgerald44]

The question is whether or not to click the box "did the dependent live with you?" for both dependents in the additional dependent information section. When each separated parent is claiming the amount for eligible dependent for only one child each.

If you select yes for both dependents live with you despite only selecting 1 yes to claim amount for eligible dependent, the income tax return increases by about $800 and CCB benefit basically doubles

[TurboTaxAniqua]

@Jfitzgerald44 If you enter both children as your dependents and claim 1 as an eligible dependent, it will give you a higher refund. The CCB is an estimate only; the CRA will advise you of the correct amount once they have assessed your return. 

Here is a great CRA link to review about shared custody.

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.