There appears to be some confusion as to who gets which tax benefits and I think an examination of the Idaho Child Support Guidelines and IRS Publication 504 might resolve these issues. There are many tax benefits to having children and very different rules as to which parent can claim those benefits. The most common benefits are: 

• ​Exemption, listing child as a dependent.
• Child Tax Credit
• Head of Household Filing Status
• Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses
• Exclusion for Dependent Care Benefits
• Earned Income Credit

 
PLEASE BE AWARE: Taxes change constantly and the Idaho Child Support Guidelines change constantly. This is not tax advice, you need to bring your child support order to your tax preparer in order to determine the proper way to file your taxes. 

ONE EXAMPLE: 

Your situation may be different but this is a common scenario where the Mother has the children more than 50% of the overnights, Father has less than 50% of the overnights and order states that Father pays child support and puts the children as dependents on his taxes. (This example may not fit your situation as every family is completely different, but may be helpful nonetheless)

The child tax credit is included in the pro rata dependency calculation that the ICSG uses. If Father gets to claim the dependency he claims the children for child tax credit as well. The earned income credit, head of household, and credit for child care expenses are separate, and whoever has the children for more than 50% of the overnights in the year can claim those benefits.

The guidelines address which tax benefits are included in the calculations and which are separate in the footnote to IRFLP Rule 126(H)3(footnote), which reads: 

 IRFLP Rule 126(H)3(footnote):
These Guidelines attempt to calculate a deduction that is accurate as of the date the chart is implemented; however, the tax laws may change and the court may deviate from these calculations upon a showing that it is not accurate in a particular case. Parties should bear in mind if they wish to contest a calculation that this chart includes tax calculations for a dependency exemption for each dependent and child tax credits, and does not include a calculation for a child care tax credit or an earned income credit. For purposes of calculation of the Idaho child support obligation, tax benefit includes both the dependency exemption benefit and the child tax credit benefit. The tax benefit includes the refundable and nonrefundable portion of the child tax credit. The child tax credit of $1,000 is not available in the year a child turns 17 or thereafter. To determine the tax benefit to a parent with a child over 17, go to the last column to the right for the number of children in the calculation, and use only the amount in that column in excess of $1,000.
Full text here: https://www.isc.idaho.gov/rules/irflp/IRFLP_Rule126-7.1.15.pdf

There is an example in the IRS publication that is informative. The IRS rules are republished in Publication 504 every year and are difficult to follow, I have included an excerpt from page 12-13 ‘example 1’ (the second example 1) as follows:
 
Excerpt from page 12-13 ‘example 1’ (the second example 1):
Example 1. You and your 5-year-old son lived all year with your mother, who paid the entire cost of keeping up the home. Your AGI is $10,000. Your mother's AGI is $25,000. Your son's father does not live with you or your son. Under the rules for children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart), your son is treated as the qualifying child of his father, who can claim an exemption and the child tax credit for the child if he meets all the requirements to do so. Because of this, you cannot claim an exemption or the child tax credit for your son. However, your son's father cannot claim your son as a qualifying child for head of household filing status, the credit for child and dependent care expenses, the exclusion for dependent care benefits, or the earned income credit. You and your mother did not have any child care expenses or dependent care benefits, but the boy is a qualifying child of both you and your mother for head of household filing status and the earned income credit because he meets the relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return tests for both you and your mother. (Note: The support test does not apply for the earned income credit.) However, you agree to let your mother claim your son. This means she can claim him for head of household filing status and the earned income credit if she qualifies for each and if you do not claim him as a qualifying child for the earned income credit. (You cannot claim head of household filing status because your mother paid the entire cost of keeping up the home.) 
The full text of publication 504 is here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p504.pdf

It would appear that Publication 504 is saying that the tax dependency and child tax credit are Father's, if awarded the tax dependency as per the child support order, but the head of household, credit for child care expenses and earned income credit are would be the parent who had the children for more than 50% of the overnights in the year.

Form 8332 is required to be signed by the parent that is not declaring the children as a dependent. 

ADDITIONALLY: There is an argument that the earned income tax credit can be income. 

Reducing or increasing your child support can be as simple as making an appointment with an attorney to make sure that child support was/is calculated properly. 

ACT QUICKLY. You must act now, as there are only a few situations where child support will be modified in the past, usually any modification will start from the date that the complaint to modify was filed. 

SIMPLE TERMS. In simple terms the three main factors in calculating child support are your income the other parent's income and the number of overnights the children are with each parent. The standard for a modification of child support is whether there is a substantial and material change in circumstances. In relation to child support it generally means a change in circumstances that would be about a 10% or more change in child support. Every judge has a different opinion of that standard, as there is no numerical definition of what is a substantial and material circumstance to warrant a change in child support. 

DETAILS. Often times it is the details that can create an increase or decrease when setting the amount for child support. Details such as (this is not an all-inclusive list, for that see an attorney): 

INCOME. What is income is not a simple question, and a good attorney can find a way to make sure that income is counted correctly. 

CONTINUING SUPPORT. So many child support orders do not include an automatic reduction when the oldest child reaches 18 or as old as 19 if not graduated from high school. In this situation I have seen Child Support Services continue to collect the same amount until all children reach 
18 or as old as 19 if not graduated from high school. If your child support order does not include an automatic reduction then you need to see an attorney immediately. 

OTHER CHILDREN. If you have children that you are paying support or that live with you then that needs to be accounted for. After-born children do not count but that is fairly technical evaluation and your attorney can assist you. 

HEALTH INSURANCE. If health insurance is not accounted for properly in your child support order than you might need to see an attorney to make sure it is properly divided. 

TAX DEDUCTION. The IRS rules change every year and the rules are so different for declaring a child as a dependent, the head-of-household exemption, the Earned Income Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Additional Child Tax Credit. The child support guidelines as currently written account for the tax dependency exemption and the earned income credit but not the rest of the tax benefits, also the earned income credit disappears at age 17 and can be adjusted for then as well. You will need to see an attorney to properly allocate these benefits. 

IMPUTING EARNINGS. If you or the other parent doesn't work full-time or are somehow underemployed the Court may impute earnings to you or the other parent under those circumstances. 

NUMBER OF OVERNIGHTS. Oddly enough a lot of times the number of overnights are counted wrongly or even differently by different attorneys and can adjust child support. 

ABATEMENT. If you have less than 25% of the overnights then you can get a reduction when the children are with you for a long period of time. 

JUDGES GREATLY DIFFER ON THE DETAILS. Each of the above sections could be the subject of their own post, and very likely will be. Judges are so different in how they deal with the above topics that it is extremely important to talk to an attorney with experience. For example I have seen judges set someone's income for child support purposes with the highest paid job that that person had, and I have seen other judges set someone's income at their current earnings even if they quit being a six figure CEO to wash cars at a carwash.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I am sure that with the new year many people are thinking about filing their taxes. This post is designed to answer some of the questions I am often asked about taxes and child support with parents living separate in Idaho. 

Usually in Idaho the child support order or the decree of divorce states who will declare the children as a dependent on their taxes and the support order includes tax exemption compensation to the parent that does not declare the children as a dependent. Unfortunately many times people do not carefully look to the order or decree as to who can declare the children as a dependent. If you are confused or the wrong person declared the children as a dependent, contact an attorney immediately. 

CERTAIN TAX EXEMPTIONS NOT INCLUDED IN CHILD SUPPORT. There are many tax benefits that regarding your children, and an order which states that one parent can declare the children as a dependent, may not state who can declare the children for the EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT, CHILD CARE TAX CREDIT, or the HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD DESIGNATION. Please contact your tax professional because the Federal Tax Code may state that only a person who has the children for 51% of the calendar year can declare the children for the benefit of the EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT, CHILD CARE TAX CREDIT, or the HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD DESIGNATION. Tax policies change year to year and this is a reminder to check with a tax professional not tax advice. The Idaho Child Support Guidelines are clear that the EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT, CHILD CARE TAX CREDIT, or the HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD DESIGNATION are not included in the calculations. 

SIMPLE TAX EXEMPTION COMPENSATION EXAMPLE. An oversimplified example of this compensation would be if the father is paying $200 in child support and can declare their one child as a dependent he gets approximately $1800 per year from declaring the child as a dependent. Because the mother in this example earns 25% of the total family income she would receive an additional amount each month with her child support as compensation for the fact that the father gets a credit of $1800 each year in his taxes an approximate calculation would be $1800/12 X 0.25 = $37.50. The Tax Exemption Compensation of $37.50 is added to the $200 he owes each month and increases his obligation to $237.50. If the example were changed and the mother were to declare the minor child as a dependent on her taxes she would receive $112.50 less in child support $1800/12 X 0.75 = $112.50 and the total child support amount would be $87.50 but she would get the additional $1800 per year. Please be aware that the total yearly amount that the tax dependency varies according to income and the Idaho Child Support Guidelines has a table of the estimated benefit per income level.
 
Idaho Rules of Civil Procedure Sec. 6(c)(6) (Sec. 8(c))

"The parties may agree to an allocation of the dependency benefits. Otherwise, the court should assign the dependency exemption(s) to the parent who has the greater tax benefit calculated from the tables below using the marital status and guidelines income of each parent at the time of the child support award calculation. The parent not receiving the exemption(s) is entitled to a pro rata share of the income tax benefit or child tax credit in proportion to his/her 
share of the guidelines income. The pro rata share of the income tax benefit will be either a credit against or in addition to the basic child support obligation and shall be included in the child support order."http://www.isc.idaho.gov/files/ICSG-July_1_2012.pdf