Social media has been abuzz with claims from influencers that Donald Trump has changed the tax code, preventing child support recipients from claiming dependents and the benefits that accompany them.
A TikToker attracted 16 million views with his video asserting, “Trump passed a new law that whoever is paying the child support would get to declare those children on their taxes. So, say you’re a single father, single mother, and you are not the one paying the child support, you will not get the tax return for your child.”
Another TikTok video, posted on Jan. 16 and watched over 12 million times, claims, “Oh my God, Trump just tweeted if you put your baby daddy on child support that the baby daddy now gets all of the income tax.”
One problem: Trump never made such an announcement on social media or anywhere else.
And even if he did, the president couldn’t make such a change by himself. An executive order would be null and void.
Congressional approval is required, as Verify.com detailed.
Amending the tax code requires Congress to pass a bill altering the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), the governing law of federal tax collection. That hasn’t happened; it hasn’t even been proposed.
And it’s not even mentioned in Trump’s Agenda 47, which outlines the president’s legislative priorities.
That could change, but nothing’s imminent.
Here’s the law as it currently stands, according to Verify.com
IRS rules are specific for divorced, separated, unmarried or co-parenting individuals who share custody of a child. Only one person can claim tax benefits for a dependent child per tax year. Generally, the custodial parent — the parent with whom the child lived with the majority of the year — claims the dependent. If the child lived with each parent equally, the custodial parent is determined as the one with the higher adjusted gross income.
The IRS also specifies that child support payments are not considered taxable income and are non-deductible.
As one mother wrote on TikTok, “My child lives with me 95% of the time. According to IRS rules..:I get to claim.”
That’s true, even if the child lived with her 55 percent of the time.
Another claim, by one especially enthusiastic X account holder, is not.
One of the TikTokers who started the rumor also made the video debunking it.
“That Trump child support stuff. I made it up. I made it up six days ago. It’s going viral,” William Elston said.
