Form 8332

(Rev. October 2018)

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Release/Revocation of Release of Claim 

to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent

▶ Attach a separate form for each child.

▶ Go to www.irs.gov/Form8332 for the latest information.

OMB No. 1545-0074

Attachment 

Sequence No. 115

Name of noncustodial parent Noncustodial parent’s 

social security number (SSN) ▶

Note: This form also applies to some tax benefits, including the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and credit for other 

dependents. It doesn’t apply to other tax benefits, such as the earned income credit, dependent care credit, or head of household 

filing status. See the instructions and Pub. 501.

Part I Release of Claim to Exemption for Current Year

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

for the tax year 20 .

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

Note: If you choose not to claim an exemption for this child for future tax years, also complete Part II.

Part II Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Years (If completed, see Noncustodial Parent on page 2.)

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

for the tax year(s)

(Specify. See instructions.)

.

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

Part III Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Year(s)

I revoke the release of claim to an exemption for

Name of child

for the tax year(s)

(Specify. See instructions.)

.

Signature of custodial parent revoking the release of claim to exemption Custodial parent’s SSN Date

General Instructions

What’s New

Exemption deduction suspended. The 

deduction for personal exemptions is 

suspended for tax years 2018 through 2025 

by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the 

exemption amount is zero, eligibility to claim 

an exemption may make you eligible for other 

tax benefits. See Pub. 501 for details. 

Although taxpayers can’t claim a deduction 

for exemptions, eligibility to claim an 

exemption for a child remains important for 

determining who may claim the child tax 

credit, the additional child tax credit, and the 

credit for other dependents, as well as other 

tax benefits. See the instructions and Pub. 

501 for details.

Purpose of Form

If you are the custodial parent, you can use 

this form to do the following.

• Release a claim to exemption for your child 

so that the noncustodial parent can claim an 

exemption for the child and claim the child tax 

credit, the additional child tax credit, and the 

credit for other dependents (if applicable).

• Revoke a previous release of claim to 

exemption for your child.

Release of claim to exemption. Complete 

this form (or sign a similar statement 

containing the same information required by 

this form) and give it to the noncustodial 

parent. The noncustodial parent must attach 

this form or similar statement to his or her tax 

return each year the exemption is claimed. 

Use Part I to release a claim to the exemption 

for the current year. Use Part II if you choose 

to release a claim to exemption for any future 

year(s).

Note: If the decree or agreement went into

effect after 1984 and before 2009, you can

attach certain pages from the decree or

agreement instead of Form 8332, provided

that these pages are substantially similar to

Form 8332. See Post-1984 and pre-2009

decree or agreement on page 2.

Revocation of release of claim to 

exemption. Use Part III to revoke a previous

release of claim to an exemption. The

revocation will be effective no earlier than the

tax year following the year in which you

provide the noncustodial parent with a copy 

of the revocation or make a reasonable effort 

to provide the noncustodial parent with a 

copy of the revocation. Therefore, if you 

revoked a release on Form 8332 and provided 

a copy of the form to the noncustodial parent 

in 2018, the earliest tax year the revocation 

can be effective is 2019. You must attach a 

copy of the revocation to your tax return each 

year the exemption is claimed as a result of 

the revocation. You must also keep for your

records a copy of the revocation and 

evidence of delivery of the notice to the 

noncustodial parent, or of reasonable efforts 

to provide actual notice.

Custodial Parent and 

Noncustodial Parent

The custodial parent is generally the parent 

with whom the child lived for the greater 

number of nights during the year. The 

noncustodial parent is the other parent. If the 

child was with each parent for an equal 

number of nights, the custodial parent is the 

parent with the higher adjusted gross income. 

For details and an exception for a parent who 

works at night, see Pub. 501.

Dependent Child

A dependent is either a qualifying child or a 

qualifying relative. See the instructions for 

your tax return for the definition of these 

terms. Generally, a child of divorced or 

separated parents will be a qualifying child of 

the custodial parent. However, if the special 

rule on page 2 applies, then the child will be 

treated as the qualifying child or qualifying

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form. Cat. No. 13910F Form 8332 (Rev. 10-2018) 
Form 8332 (Rev. 10-2018) Page 2 

relative of the noncustodial parent for 

purposes of the dependency exemption, the 

child tax credit, the additional child tax credit, 

and the credit for other dependents.

Special Rule for Children of 

Divorced or Separated 

Parents

A child is treated as a qualifying child or a 

qualifying relative of the noncustodial parent if 

all of the following apply.

1. The child received over half of his or her 

support for the year from one or both of the 

parents (see the Exception below). If you 

received payments under the Temporary 

Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) 

program or other public assistance program 

and you used the money to support the child, 

see Pub. 501.

2. The child was in the custody of one or 

both of the parents for more than half of the 

year.

3. Either of the following applies.

a. The custodial parent agrees not to claim 

an exemption for the child by signing this 

form or a similar statement. If the decree or 

agreement went into effect after 1984 and 

before 2009, see Post-1984 and pre-2009 

decree or agreement below.

b. A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate 

maintenance or written separation agreement 

states that the noncustodial parent can claim 

the child as a dependent. But the 

noncustodial parent must provide at least 

$600 for the child’s support during the year. 

This rule does not apply if the decree or 

agreement was changed after 1984 to say 

that the noncustodial parent cannot claim the 

child as a dependent.

For this rule to apply, the parents must be 

one of the following.

• Divorced or legally separated under a 

decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

• Separated under a written separation 

agreement.

• Living apart at all times during the last 6 

months of the year.

If this rule applies, and the other 

dependency tests in the instructions for your 

tax return are also met, the noncustodial 

parent can claim an exemption for the child.

Exception. If the support of the child is 

determined under a multiple support

agreement, this special rule does not apply, 

and this form should not be used.

Post-1984 and pre-2009 decree or 

agreement. If the divorce decree or

separation agreement went into effect after 

1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial 

parent can attach certain pages from the 

decree or agreement

instead of Form 8332, provided that these 

pages are substantially similar to Form 8332. 

To be able to do this, the decree or 

agreement must state all three of the 

following.

1. The noncustodial parent can claim the 

child as a dependent without regard to any 

condition (such as payment of support).

2. The other parent will not claim the child 

as a dependent.

3. The years for which the claim is released.

The noncustodial parent must attach all of 

the following pages from the decree or 

agreement.

• Cover page (include the other parent’s SSN 

on that page).

• The pages that include all of the information 

identified in (1) through (3) above.

• Signature page with the other parent’s 

signature and date of agreement.

▲!

CAUTION

The noncustodial parent must 

attach the required information 

even if it was filed with a return in 

an earlier year.

Post-2008 decree or agreement. If the

divorce decree or separation agreement went

into effect after 2008, the noncustodial parent

can’t attach certain pages from the decree or 

agreement instead of Form 8332. 

Specific Instructions

Custodial Parent

Part I. Complete Part I to release a claim to 

exemption for your child for the current tax 

year.

Part II. Complete Part II to release a claim to 

exemption for your child for one or more 

future years. Write the specific future year(s) 

or “all future years” in the space provided in 

Part II.

To help ensure future support, you 

may not want to release your 

claim to the exemption for the 

child for future years.

TIP

Part III. Complete Part III if you are revoking a 

previous release of claim to exemption for 

your child. Write the specific future year(s) or 

“all future years” in the space provided in 

Part III.

The revocation will be effective no earlier 

than the tax year following the year you 

provide the noncustodial parent with a copy 

of the revocation or make a reasonable effort 

to provide the noncustodial parent with a 

copy of the revocation. Also, you must attach 

a copy of the revocation to your tax return for 

each year you are claiming the exemption as 

a result of the revocation. You must also keep 

for your records a copy of the revocation and 

evidence of delivery of the notice to the 

noncustodial parent, or of reasonable efforts 

to provide actual notice.

Example. In 2015, you released a claim to 

exemption for your child on Form 8332 for the 

years 2016 through 2020. In 2018, you 

decided to revoke the previous release of 

exemption. If you completed Part III of Form 

8332 and provided a copy of the form to the

noncustodial parent in 2018, the revocation 

will be effective for 2019 and 2020. You must 

attach a copy of the revocation to your 2019 

and 2020 tax returns and keep certain records 

as stated earlier.

Noncustodial Parent

Attach this form or similar statement to your 

tax return for each year you claim the 

exemption for your child. You can claim the 

exemption only if the other dependency tests 

in the instructions for your tax return are met.

TIP

If the custodial parent released his 

or her claim to the exemption for 

the child for any future year, you 

must attach a copy of this form or 

similar statement to your tax return 

for each future year that you claim the 

exemption. Keep a copy for your records.

Note: If you are filing your return

electronically, you must file Form 8332 with 

Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax 

Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return. See Form 

8453 and its instructions for more details.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask 

for the information on this form to carry out 

the Internal Revenue laws of the United 

States. You are required to give us the 

information. We need it to ensure that you are 

complying with these laws and to allow us to 

figure and collect the right amount of tax.

You aren’t required to provide the 

information requested on a form that is 

subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act 

unless the form displays a valid OMB control 

number. Books or records relating to a form 

or its instructions must be retained as long as 

their contents may become material in the 

administration of any Internal Revenue law. 

Generally, tax returns and return information 

are confidential, as required by Internal 

Revenue Code section 6103.

The average time and expenses required to 

complete and file this form will vary 

depending on individual circumstances. For 

the estimated averages, see the instructions 

for your income tax return.

If you have suggestions for making this 

form simpler, we would be happy to hear from 

you. See the instructions for your income tax 

return.