You must contact your Office of Child Support Enforcement.

References:

• Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families Office of Child Support Enforcement.

Yes, you can file electronically however the time frame in which you receive your refund can be 11 weeks.

References:

• Form 8379 (PDF), Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation

Only one taxpayer may claim the child as a qualifying child for purposes of filing as head of household. Also, a taxpayer filing as head of household must furnish over half the cost of maintaining the household. Therefore, both parents may not file as head of household. For more information, please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for more information.

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 353, What is your Filing Status?

In order to be your dependents, your niece and her child must meet the following tests:

1. Qualifying child or qualifying relative tests;
2. Dependent Taxpayer test;
3. Citizenship or resident test; and
4. Joint return test

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information

Nothing can be deducted for the child support payments. Child support payments are neither deductible by the payer nor taxable income to the payee. You may be able to claim the child as a dependent. The parent who the child lived with for the greater part of the year is the custodial parent. Generally the custodial parent is allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the other exemption tests are met. However, the noncustodial parent may be allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the custodial parent signs a Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced of Separated Parents, or a substantially similar statement.

Please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information, and Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals, for more information.

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

No. Child support payments are neither deductible by the payor nor taxable to the payee. When you total your gross income to see if you are required to file a tax return, do not include child support payments received. For additional information, refer to Tax Topic 422, Nontaxable Income, or Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals.

No, for purposes of calculating the earned income credit, child support is not considered earned income.

Please refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a complete discussion of the earned income credit.

References:

• Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit