How is the Income Tax Adjustment Calculated for Shared Residency?
Traditional Residency: During traditional (primary) residency, the tax adjustment depends on whether the parent with primary residency shares the tax benefits. The non-resident parent always makes the child support payment, so if the nonresident parent receives all (or the greater share) of the tax benefits, the tax adjustment will be positive (thus increasing the child support paid and thereby “sharing” some of the benefits), whereas if the nonresident parent receives none (or a lesser share) of the tax benefits, the tax adjustment will be negative, reducing the child support paid by the nonresident parent. Shared Residency: Calculation of the income tax adjustment in a shared residency arrangement is more complicated. The official Guidelines provide that the adjustment is to be given to the nonresident parent in proportion to the nonresident parent’s share of the total income of the parents. Since a shared residency is defined as one in which the residence of the child is shared in a
