TAX COURT OPINION

Case: Donald & Sarah Nobbley
Docket Number: 17232-08S
Judge: Colvin
Opinion Type: bench
Filed: 10/28/2009
Pages: 5

UNITED STATES TAX COURT WASHINGTON , DC 2021 7 DONALD & SARAH NOBBLEY , Petitioners ) v . ) Docket No . 17232-08S . COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent 0 R,D E R Pursuant to Rule 152(b), Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, it i s ORDERED . that the Clerk of the Court shall transmit herewith to petitioners and to respondent a copy of the pages of the transcript of the trial in the above case .before Judge Michael B . Thornton at Birmingham, Alabama, on, October 5, 2009, containing his oral findings of fact and opinion rendered at the conclusion of the trial . In accordance with the oral findings of fact and opinion, decision will be entered for respondent . (Signed ) Michael B . Thornton Judge Dated : Washington, D .C . October 28, 2009 SERVED NOV - 2 2009 3 Bench Opinion by Judge Michael B . Thornton October 5, 200 9 Donald & Sarah Nobbley Docket No . 17232-08 The Court has decided to render an oral findings of fact and opinion in this case, and the following represents the Court's oral findings of fact and opinion . Except as otherwise provided by Rule 152(c) of the Tax Court Rules of Practice and Procedure, th e 10 oral findings of fact and opinion shall not be relied . 11 upon as precedent . This Bench Opinion is made pursuant 12 to the authority granted-by Section 7459(b) and Rule 152 . 13 Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code in 14 effect for the taxable year at issue . All rul e 15 references are to the Tax Court Rules of Practice and 16 Procedure . 17 This case was heard pursuant to th e 18 provisions of Section 7463 ; pursuant to Section 7463(b) . 19 The decision to be entered is not reviewable by any other, 20 court, and this opinion shall not be treated as precedent 21 for any other case . 22 This case was tried on October Stn, 2009, in 23 Birmingham, Alabama . Petitioner Donald Nobbley tried his . 24 case prose . Edwin Cleverdon represented Respondent . 25 Respondent determine a $1495 deficiency in Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-4888 4 Petitioners' 2006 Federal Income Tax . The issue is whether Petitioners are entitled to claim a dependenc y exemption and the child tax credit for taxable year 2006 , with respect to Petitioner Donald Nobbley's daughter by a previous marriage . Findings of Fact . On their joint 2006 Federal Income Tax Return, Petitioners claimed a dependency exemption deduction and the child tax credit with respect to the daughter of Petitioner Donal d 10 Nobbley, whom we shall hereinafter refer to a s 11 Petitioner . 12 Petitioner's daughter did not reside with 13 Petitioners for more than one-half of 2006 . Petitioner's 14 ex-wife did not execute a Form 8332 or other documen t 15 containing the elements required by Form 8332 for the 16 taxable year 2006 . 17 Discussion . A taxpayer may claim a 18 dependency exemption for . .a child as long as the chil d 19 meets the statutory . definition of dependent . Section 20 151 (c)152( a)(1) . Ordinarily a taxpayer may claim a 21 child as a dependent for a particular calendar year, only 22 if the taxpayer provides over half of the child's support 23 during that calendar year . See Section 152(a) . 24 However, special rules determine which parent 25 may claim a minor child as a dependent where the parents Heritage Reporting Corporatio n (202) 628-488 8 5 1 are divorced or separated . See Section 152(e)(1) . Unde r 2 these rules, the parent with custody of the child for the 3 greater portion of the year generally is treated a s 4 having provided over half of the child's support, 5 regardless of which parent actually provided thi s support . r 7 One exception to this special rule exists, which entitles the non-custodial parent to the dependency exemption deduction . Section 152(e)(2) . For th e 10 exception to apply, the custodian parent must sign a 11 written declaration releasing his or her claim to th e 12 deduction and . the non-custodial parent must attach the 13 declaration to his or her tax return . 14 The custodial parent may make this written 15 declaration on Form 8 .332 . Form 8332 calls for, among 16 other things, the custodial parent's signature and the 17 date of signature . A written declaration that is made 18 other than on Form 8332 must conform to the substance of 19 that form . Section 1 .152-4T(e), Q&A-3, Temporary Incom e 20 Tax Regs . 21 Petitioner's former spouse, who is th e 22 custodial parent, did not execute Form 8332 or any other 23 document that conforms to the substance of Form 8332 . 24 Accordingly, Petitioners are not entitled to claim the 25 dependency exemption deduction with respect to Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 6 1 Petitioner's daughter by his former marriage . Because 2 Petitioner's daughter is not Petitioner's dependent , 3 Petitioners are also not entitled to claim the child tax 4 credit under Section 24 . 5 Decision will be entered for Respondent . This concludes the Court's findings of fac t and opinion in this case . (Whereupon, at 3 :44 p .m ., the bench opinion in the above-entitled matter was concluded . ) 10 11 // 1 2 13 14 15 16 1 7 18 19 20 21 22 // . 23 // 24 // 25 // Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888