Release/Revocation of Release of Claim

to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent Form 8332

(Rev. February 2009)

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service © Attach a separate form for each child.

Name of noncustodial parent

Release of Claim to Exemption for Current Year

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

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.

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

(Specify. See instructions.)

Part I

Part II

I agree not to claim an exemption for

Name of child

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

Noncustodial parent’s

social security number (SSN) ©

OMB No. 1545-0074

Attachment

Sequence No. 115

for the tax year 20 .

for the tax year(s) .

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

(Specify. See instructions.)

Part III

I revoke the release of claim to an exemption for

Name of child

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

for the tax year(s) .

New rules apply to allow the custodial

parent to revoke a previous release of

claim to exemption. For details, see

Revocation of release of claim to

exemption on this page.

General Instructions

The custodial parent is the parent with

whom the child lived for the greater part

of the year. The other parent is the

noncustodial parent.

Release of claim to exemption. This

release of the exemption will also allow

the noncustodial parent to claim the child

tax credit and the additional child tax

credit (if either applies). 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

See Regulations section 1.152-4 for

more details on determining custody.

What’s New

Purpose of Form

● Release a claim to exemption for your

child so that the noncustodial parent can

claim an exemption for the child.

If you are the custodial parent, you can

use this form to do the following.

● Revoke a previous release of claim to

exemption for your child.

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).

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 revoke a release on Form 8332 and

provide a copy of the form to the

noncustodial parent in 2009, the earliest

tax year the revocation can be effective is

2010. 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

A dependent is either a qualifying child or

a qualifying relative. See your tax return

instruction booklet 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 relative

of the noncustodial parent for purposes

of the dependency exemption, the child

tax credit, and the additional child tax

credit.

Exemption for a Dependent

Child

If the parents divorced or separated

during the year and the child lived with

both parents before the separation, the

custodial parent is the one with whom

the child lived for the greater part of the

rest of the year.
Form 8332 (Rev. 2-2009) Page 2

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.

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.

Part I. Complete Part I to release a claim

to exemption for your child for the current

tax year.

To help ensure future support,

you may not want to release 

your claim to the exemption for

the child for future years.

Specific Instructions

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 your tax return

instruction booklet 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.

TIP

You are not 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.

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).

Public assistance payments, such as

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

(TANF), are not support provided by the

parents.

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, see Post-1984 decree

or agreement below.

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.

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.

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.

Post-1984 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. To be

able to do this, the decree or agreement

must state all three of the following.

If this rule applies, and the other

dependency tests in your tax return

instruction booklet are also met, the

noncustodial parent can claim the

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.

The noncustodial parent can no longer

attach certain pages from a divorce

decree or separation agreement instead

of Form 8332 if the decree or agreement

was executed after 2008. If the decree or

separation agreement was executed

before 2009, the noncustodial parent can

continue to attach certain pages from the

decree or agreement as discussed

above.

Special Rule for Children of

Divorced or Separated

Parents

Custodial Parent

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.

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

Example. In 2007, you released a

claim to exemption for your child on

Form 8332 for the years 2008 through

2010. You would now like to revoke the

previous release of exemption. If you

complete Part III of Form 8332 and

provide a copy of the form to the

noncustodial parent in 2009, the

revocation will be effective for 2010.

Noncustodial Parent

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.