Two or More Individuals with the Same Qualifying Child
If an individual can be claimed as a qualifying child by two or more taxpayers for a tax year beginning in the same calendar year, that individual will be treated as the qualifying child of the taxpayer who is:
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A parent of the individual.
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If (1) does not apply, the taxpayer with the highest adjusted gross income for that tax year.
If the parents claiming the credit with respect to any qualifying child do not file a joint return together, that child will be treated as the qualifying child of:
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The parent with whom the child resided for the longest period of time during the tax year, or
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If the child resides with both parents for the same amount of time during that tax year, the parent with the highest adjusted gross income.
If a parent can claim the child as a qualifying child but does not do so, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the person who had the highest AGI for the year, but only if that person’s AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent of the child.
Note: This is the same tie-breaker rule that applies under the uniform definition of a child for the purpose of the dependency exemption.