So many times men or women that actually do pay their child support are not getting the child credit or tax break. This adds to the non custodial parents problems. In my case I pay 52% of the child support. But do you think that my ex would allow me to claim even one child ever.........no chance........ That is not fair, since the IRS taxes you based on your gross income, that is fine if your not paying 20,000 per year for your children and still having to pay the taxes with money you actually dont have. The taxed percentage should be based on how many children you have and pay for, and the amount being paid. Sort of like how alimony is taxed as income. ie if a parent pays 500 per month per child for the year and has the reciepts to show that it has been paid and the form for the other parent to sign and confirm payments are received then allow the non-custodian parent to get a tax credit for that year and what he or she has paid.
A viable soultion would be to allow payers of child support to claim deductions “above the line,” often referred to as deductions “for” AGI. These deductions would be similar to those listed in IRC section 62 (e.g., interest expense on educational loans, moving expenses, alimony payments). Congress would probably place a cap on the annual amount of child support payments, possibly in the range of $3,000 to $8,000 in order to target the benefit specifically to low- and middle-income taxpayers. If all else fails allow the separated parents to split the child tax credits period.