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28 1984 Tax Preparation Guide Divorced, separated parents aided by child exemption rules If you are a divorced or separated parent, the Internal Revenue Service has guidelines to help you decide whether you or your former spouse can claim the $1,000 exemption for your child. Although there are some excep­ tions, the parent who has custody of the child for most of the year is usually permitted to claim the ex­ emption. In this case, the parent with custody is treated as the one providing more than half of the child's support. If you are the non-custodial pa­ rent, you may claim the exemption for your child if: --your decree of divorce or sepa­ rate maintenance, or other written agreement, states that you have the right to take the exemption and you provide at least $600 of support for your child, or --you provide at least $1,200 of support for each child and your former spouse does not provide more, whether or not your decree gives you the exemption. Whether you are the custodial or non-custodial parent, you should know the types of expenses to in­ clude in determining support. Medi­ cal and dental care, food, lodging, clothing, education, recreation and transportation are among the items of support. LET THE I.R.S. DO SOMETHING FOR YOU THIS YEAR... McHENRY NAUTILUS CALL FOR A FREE INTRODUCTION 344-2202 Many single parents think that the value of the lodging they provide for their children is only the rent or mortgage payment. The true value of this lodging (and the value IRS uses) includes a reasonable allo­ wance for the use of the furniture and applicances, heat and other utili­ ties. You should use the fair rental value of the home in which your child lives, divided by the number of people who live in that home, as the value of the lodging when you deter­ mine the amount of support you have provided. Fair rental value is the amount you could reasonably ex­ pect to receive from a stranger for the same kind of lodging, the IRS said. For example, Mary Smith lives with her two children and she pays $300 for monthly mortgage pay­ ments. A similar house in her neigh­ borhood rent for $500 a month, unfur­ nished. She adds $100 a month for the value of the furnishings and $150 a month for utilities. She determines that she is providing $250 of support for lodging per month for each child: $500 plus $100. plus $150 divided by three. Certain other items are easily missed when you are adding up the amount you've paid for support. The child's contributions to churches or charities, a reasonable amount of your car expenses for transporting the child to school and other activi­ ties, and the child's portion of vaca­ tion expenses are items of support you might overlook. It is important to keep accurate records of support expenses throu­ ghout the year. Maintaining a diary for each child will help you keep track of all the little expenses such as haircuts, school lunches and trips to the movies. These records will be important in determing the amount of support you have provided. If you have reason to believe that your former spouse intends to claim an exemption for a child for whom you claim an exemption, the IRS suggests that you request in writing an itemized statement of support from the other parent. Details of this and other important information for divorced or separated parents can be found in IRS Publication 504, Tax Information for Divorced or Se­ parated Individuals. You can order this publication by using the handy order blank in your tax package. Got tax questions? 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