Form 8332 Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or S

8332

Release/Revocation of Release of Claim
to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent

Form
(Rev. October 2018)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Name of noncustodial parent

OMB No. 1545-0074
Attachment
Sequence No. 115

▶ Attach

a separate form for each child.
▶ Go to www.irs.gov/Form8332 for the latest information.

Noncustodial parent’s
social security number (SSN)

▶

Note: This form also applies to some tax benefits, including the child tax credit, additional child tax credit, and credit for other
dependents. It doesn’t apply to other tax benefits, such as the earned income credit, dependent care credit, or head of household
filing status. See the instructions and Pub. 501.

Part I

Release of Claim to Exemption for Current Year

I agree not to claim an exemption for
Name of child

for the tax year 20

.

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption

Date

Custodial parent’s SSN

Note: If you choose not to claim an exemption for this child for future tax years, also complete Part II.

Part II

Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Years (If completed, see Noncustodial Parent on page 2.)

I agree not to claim an exemption for
Name of child

for the tax year(s)

.
(Specify. See instructions.)

Signature of custodial parent releasing claim to exemption

Part III

Date

Custodial parent’s SSN

Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Future Year(s)

I revoke the release of claim to an exemption for
Name of child

for the tax year(s)

.
(Specify. See instructions.)

Signature of custodial parent revoking the release of claim to exemption

General Instructions
What’s New
Exemption deduction suspended. The
deduction for personal exemptions is
suspended for tax years 2018 through 2025
by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although the
exemption amount is zero, eligibility to claim
an exemption may make you eligible for other
tax benefits. See Pub. 501 for details.
Although taxpayers can’t claim a deduction
for exemptions, eligibility to claim an
exemption for a child remains important for
determining who may claim the child tax
credit, the additional child tax credit, and the
credit for other dependents, as well as other
tax benefits. See the instructions and Pub.
501 for details.

Purpose of Form
If you are the custodial parent, you can use
this form to do the following.
• Release a claim to exemption for your child
so that the noncustodial parent can claim an
exemption for the child and claim the child tax
credit, the additional child tax credit, and the
credit for other dependents (if applicable).
• Revoke a previous release of claim to
exemption for your child.

Release of claim to exemption. Complete
this form (or sign a similar statement
containing the same information required by
this form) and give it to the noncustodial
parent. The noncustodial parent must attach
this form or similar statement to his or her tax
return each year the exemption is claimed.
Use Part I to release a claim to the exemption
for the current year. Use Part II if you choose
to release a claim to exemption for any future
year(s).
Note: If the decree or agreement went into
effect after 1984 and before 2009, you can
attach certain pages from the decree or
agreement instead of Form 8332, provided
that these pages are substantially similar to
Form 8332. See Post-1984 and pre-2009
decree or agreement on page 2.
Revocation of release of claim to
exemption. Use Part III to revoke a previous
release of claim to an exemption. The
revocation will be effective no earlier than the
tax year following the year in which you
provide the noncustodial parent with a copy
of the revocation or make a reasonable effort
to provide the noncustodial parent with a
copy of the revocation. Therefore, if you
revoked a release on Form 8332 and provided
a copy of the form to the noncustodial parent
in 2018, the earliest tax year the revocation

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see back of form.

Date

Custodial parent’s SSN

Cat. No. 13910F

can be effective is 2019. You must attach a
copy of the revocation to your tax return each
year the exemption is claimed as a result of
the revocation. You must also keep for your
records a copy of the revocation and
evidence of delivery of the notice to the
noncustodial parent, or of reasonable efforts
to provide actual notice.

Custodial Parent and
Noncustodial Parent
The custodial parent is generally the parent
with whom the child lived for the greater
number of nights during the year. The
noncustodial parent is the other parent. If the
child was with each parent for an equal
number of nights, the custodial parent is the
parent with the higher adjusted gross income.
For details and an exception for a parent who
works at night, see Pub. 501.

Dependent Child
A dependent is either a qualifying child or a
qualifying relative. See the instructions for
your tax return for the definition of these
terms. Generally, a child of divorced or
separated parents will be a qualifying child of
the custodial parent. However, if the special
rule on page 2 applies, then the child will be
treated as the qualifying child or qualifying

Form 8332 (Rev. 10-2018)

Form 8332 (Rev. 10-2018)

relative of the noncustodial parent for
purposes of the dependency exemption, the
child tax credit, the additional child tax credit,
and the credit for other dependents.

Special Rule for Children of
Divorced or Separated
Parents
A child is treated as a qualifying child or a
qualifying relative of the noncustodial parent if
all of the following apply.
1. The child received over half of his or her
support for the year from one or both of the
parents (see the Exception below). If you
received payments under the Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
program or other public assistance program
and you used the money to support the child,
see Pub. 501.
2. The child was in the custody of one or
both of the parents for more than half of the
year.
3. Either of the following applies.
a. The custodial parent agrees not to claim
an exemption for the child by signing this
form or a similar statement. If the decree or
agreement went into effect after 1984 and
before 2009, see Post-1984 and pre-2009
decree or agreement below.
b. A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate
maintenance or written separation agreement
states that the noncustodial parent can claim
the child as a dependent. But the
noncustodial parent must provide at least
$600 for the child’s support during the year.
This rule does not apply if the decree or
agreement was changed after 1984 to say
that the noncustodial parent cannot claim the
child as a dependent.
For this rule to apply, the parents must be
one of the following.
• Divorced or legally separated under a
decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
• Separated under a written separation
agreement.
• Living apart at all times during the last 6
months of the year.
If this rule applies, and the other
dependency tests in the instructions for your
tax return are also met, the noncustodial
parent can claim an exemption for the child.
Exception. If the support of the child is
determined under a multiple support
agreement, this special rule does not apply,
and this form should not be used.
Post-1984 and pre-2009 decree or
agreement. If the divorce decree or
separation agreement went into effect after
1984 and before 2009, the noncustodial
parent can attach certain pages from the
decree or agreement

Page

instead of Form 8332, provided that these
pages are substantially similar to Form 8332.
To be able to do this, the decree or
agreement must state all three of the
following.
1. The noncustodial parent can claim the
child as a dependent without regard to any
condition (such as payment of support).
2. The other parent will not claim the child
as a dependent.
3. The years for which the claim is released.
The noncustodial parent must attach all of
the following pages from the decree or
agreement.
• Cover page (include the other parent’s SSN
on that page).
• The pages that include all of the information
identified in (1) through (3) above.
• Signature page with the other parent’s
signature and date of agreement.
The noncustodial parent must
attach the required information
even if it was filed with a return in
CAUTION an earlier year.
Post-2008 decree or agreement. If the
divorce decree or separation agreement went
into effect after 2008, the noncustodial parent
can’t attach certain pages from the decree or
agreement instead of Form 8332.

!
▲

Specific Instructions
Custodial Parent
Part I. Complete Part I to release a claim to
exemption for your child for the current tax
year.
Part II. Complete Part II to release a claim to
exemption for your child for one or more
future years. Write the specific future year(s)
or “all future years” in the space provided in
Part II.
To help ensure future support, you
may not want to release your
TIP claim to the exemption for the
child for future years.
Part III. Complete Part III if you are revoking a
previous release of claim to exemption for
your child. Write the specific future year(s) or
“all future years” in the space provided in
Part III.
The revocation will be effective no earlier
than the tax year following the year you
provide the noncustodial parent with a copy
of the revocation or make a reasonable effort
to provide the noncustodial parent with a
copy of the revocation. Also, you must attach
a copy of the revocation to your tax return for
each year you are claiming the exemption as
a result of the revocation. You must also keep
for your records a copy of the revocation and
evidence of delivery of the notice to the
noncustodial parent, or of reasonable efforts
to provide actual notice.

2

Example. In 2015, you released a claim to
exemption for your child on Form 8332 for the
years 2016 through 2020. In 2018, you
decided to revoke the previous release of
exemption. If you completed Part III of Form
8332 and provided a copy of the form to the
noncustodial parent in 2018, the revocation
will be effective for 2019 and 2020. You must
attach a copy of the revocation to your 2019
and 2020 tax returns and keep certain records
as stated earlier.

Noncustodial Parent
Attach this form or similar statement to your
tax return for each year you claim the
exemption for your child. You can claim the
exemption only if the other dependency tests
in the instructions for your tax return are met.
If the custodial parent released his
or her claim to the exemption for
TIP the child for any future year, you
must attach a copy of this form or
similar statement to your tax return
for each future year that you claim the
exemption. Keep a copy for your records.
Note: If you are filing your return
electronically, you must file Form 8332 with
Form 8453, U.S. Individual Income Tax
Transmittal for an IRS e-file Return. See Form
8453 and its instructions for more details.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask
for the information on this form to carry out
the Internal Revenue laws of the United
States. You are required to give us the
information. We need it to ensure that you are
complying with these laws and to allow us to
figure and collect the right amount of tax.
You aren’t required to provide the
information requested on a form that is
subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB control
number. Books or records relating to a form
or its instructions must be retained as long as
their contents may become material in the
administration of any Internal Revenue law.
Generally, tax returns and return information
are confidential, as required by Internal
Revenue Code section 6103.
The average time and expenses required to
complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances. For
the estimated averages, see the instructions
for your income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this
form simpler, we would be happy to hear from
you. See the instructions for your income tax
return.