Legal Question in Tax Law in Massachusetts

It all depends on the what the court documents state. If the court paper do not state it then as a joint custodial parent you may be entitled to the earned income credit for the child. The EIC credit is based on whether the child primary resides more than 6 months out of the yea with one parent. The dependency exemption is usually what parties fight about in court. If the court papers say one parent can claim the child then that parent can and should under the law. Documents might need to be filed by the other parent dependence on the wording. If they still refuse then the parent should file a contempt for noncompliance. If it is not in the agreement then a parent may want to file a modification to get a court order to state such. A step parent can only claim if your spouse is filing a joint return has has the above mentioned authority to do so.