TAX COURT OPINION

Case: James S. Ross
Docket Number: 2734-08S
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 02/11/2009
Pages: 5

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON , DC 2021 7 JAMES S . . ROSS, Petitione r v . ) Docket No . 2734-08S . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE , 'Responden t Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it is . ORDERED : That the Clerk,of the Court shall transmi t herewith to petitioner and , torespondent a copy of the pages o f the transcript of the proceedings in the above case before Judg e Robert P . Ruwe at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, containing his ora l findings of fact-and opinion rendered on February 3, 2009 . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed) Robert P . Ruwe Judg e Dated : Washington,,D .C . February 11, 2009 3 1 Bench Opinion by Senior Judge Robert P . Ruwe 2 February 3,-200 9 3 James S . Ross v . Commissioner Docket No . 2734-08S 4 THE COURT : All right . The Court has decided to 5 render oral findings of fact and opinion in this case, and 6 the following represents the Court's oral findings of fact 7 and opinion .- The oral findings of fact and opinion shal l 8 not be relied upon as precedent in any other case . 9 This proceeding was heard as a small tax cas e 10 pursuant to the provisions of Section 7463 of the Internal 11 Revenue Code and Rules 170 through 175 of the Tax Court's 12 Rules . 13 This bench opinion is made pursuant to th e 14 authority granted by Section 7459(b) of the Internal Revenue 15 Code of 1986, . as amended, and Rule 152 of the Tax Cour t 16 Rules of Practice and Procedure . 17 James S . Ross appeared on his .own behalf . 18 RA Respondent determined a deficiency in Petitioner's 19 federal income tax for the taxable year 2005 in the amount 20 of $1,578 . The issues for decision are whether Petitioner 21 is entitled to a dependency exemption and a child ta x 22 credit . Some of. the facts have been stipulated and are so 23 found . 24 Petitioner resided in Pennsylvania at the time the 25 petition was filed with this Court . Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Petitioner timely filed his tax .return for the year 2005 . Petitioner claimed'M .C .-as a dependent for the taxable year 200.5 . Petitioner claimed a child tax-credit i n 4 the amount .-of $1,000 ; based on'M .C ., for the: taxable yea r 2005 . Petitioner is,the biological father of M .C .' During the-year 2005, M .C . did not reside wit h Petitioner . -Petitioner is not married to M .C .'s mother . M .C .'s mother is the custodial-parent ., and. M .C . with her mother durin g the entire 2005 tax year . M .C .'s mother .'filed joint return for. the taxable 13 year 2005 and claimed M .C . as a dependent on that return . 14 Petitioner provided for M .C .',s support pursuant t o 15 a Pennsylvania support', order . Petitioner had child support 16 for M .C . deducted from his wages in'the amount of $4,.,190 .9 8 17 for the taxable year 2005 . 18 Petitioner did not attach to his 2005 income ta x 19 return a Form 8332 or other signed declaration from M .C .',rs 20 mother stating that she will . not claim M .C . 'as a ,dependent 21 for the taxable year 2005 . 22 Section 151(c) allows taxpayers an annua l 23 exemption deduction for each .dependent, as defined i n 24 Section 152 . A dependent is either a qualifying child or a 25 qualifying relative . .See Section 152(a)' . Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4.888 A qualifying child for purposes of the exemption must meet four statutory requirements under.-Section 152(c) . One of those requirements . is that the individual being . claimed as a dependent has the same principal place of abode as the-taxpayer for more than one-half of the taxable year . ROR That's under Section 152(c) (1) (B) . M .C . did not have the same principal place o f abode as Petitioner during the taxable year 2005 . 9 Therefore, M .C . is not Petitioner's qualifying child under 10 the Code . 11 Section 152(e) provides for an exception where th e 12 taxpayer .does not qualify under Section 152(c) .- Section 13 152(e) provides that the child will qualify as a qualifying .14 child if the custodial parent signs a written declaration 15 that such custodial parent will not claim the child . as a 16 dependent . In addition, the noncustodial . parent must attach 17, such written declaration to the noncustodial parent's retur n 18 for the taxable year . 19. No such declaration was made ' by the custodial 20, parent, and no form, ' as provided by Section 152(e )( 2), was 21 attached to Petitioner 's return for the taxable year 2005 . 22 As.to,,whether M .C'. could be a qualified relative, 23 the Court finds that M .C . is not a qualified relative of 24 Petitioner under Section 152(d) .because that term requires .25 that M .C . not be a qualified .child of someone else, and a s Heritage Reporting Corporation (202') 628-4888 6 1 indicated by the facts, M .C . is a qualified child of M .C .'s 2 mother .within the meaning of Section 152(c) . 3 In order to claim the . child tax credit, unde r 4 Section 24(a), the taxpayer may claim a child tax credit for 5 each qualifying child . A qualifying child for .purposes o f 6 Section 24 is a qualifying child as defined in Sectio n 7 152(c) or Section 152(e), and as the Court has just held , 8 M .C . is not a qualifying child of Petitioner under either of 9 those sections . 10 That concludes the Court's bench opinion, and a 11 decision will be entered for Respondent . 12 (Whereupon, at 10 :46 a .m ., the bench opinion in 13 the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) .14 15 16 1 7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888