Dependent living at Boys Town?

[TaxTime829]

The client has a son 16 yrs old who is living at Boys Town in Nebraska.
The client pay $200/mo and Boys Town pays EVERYTHING else... food, clothes, transportation, house, entertainment, the works...
She says he is her dependent and other parents with a child at Boys Town claim the child as a dependent as well.
I called Boys Town... they said it was up to the parent and they should talk to a tax guy about it???
Well... I know absence from the home for school is OK for a dependent and this is a school but the child is not released until graduation from this school... (although he does come home for 1 or 2 week brakes during the year)

So... has anyone run into this before?
How is EIC handled with this type of dependent?
Is the child a dependent or not?

[appelman]

Boy's Town is not the boy!

So long as he doesn't pay more than half of his own support, the amount provided by Boy's Town is irrelevant. A more serious question is whether he meets the requirement of living with taxpayer for more than half the year. I would think that he meets the "special circumstances" exception.

[DonPriebe]

Pub 596 has this to say about "Temporary Absences" ...

Temporary absences. Count time that you or your child is away from home on a temporary absence due to a special circumstance as time the child lived with you. Examples of a special circumstance include illness, school attendance, business, vacation, military service, and detention in a juvenile facility.

If detention in a juvenile facility counts as a temporary absence, I would see no problem with less mandated absences, such as boarding schools, military schools, 'hard love' wilderness camps, etc. The key is that the child will be gone for a time certain, after which he will (intends to) return to his home.

[veritas]

Agree with Don & Evan

And there is no support test for EIC.