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Skitzki v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

United States Tax Court
T.C. Memo. 2019-106 (2019)

Written by Nathan Benedict, JD

Facts

Mark Skitzki (petitioner) divorced in 2006. He and his ex-wife, Cynthia Santucci-Skitzki, shared custody of their minor child, AS. The divorce decree provided that Skitzki could claim AS as his dependent in even years and that Santucci-Skitzki could claim AS as a dependent in odd years. Santucci-Skitzki had physical custody of AS for more than half of 2014, although Skitzki provided the majority of AS’s financial support. Skitzki claimed AS as a dependent on his 2014 taxes, based on § 152(e)(2), which permits a noncustodial divorced parent to claim a child as a dependent if the other parent signs a written declaration avowing that she will not claim the child as a dependent that year. Skitzki did not provide a signed declaration from Santucci-Skitzki, instead relying on the divorce decree. The commissioner (respondent) sought to disallow Skitzki’s dependency exemption for 2014, as well as Skitzki’s head of household filing status, child tax credit, and earned income tax credit. Skitzki argued that the divorce decree satisfied the requirements of § 152(e)(2).

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