Who should claim the baby?

Question

I live with my boyfriend. We are kinda disagreeing about who should claim our son, who was born in September. I am not working right now and he is. I only worked about 3 months this enitre year but I did pay in taxes. My aunt called and told me that I should claim the baby because I could get a lot back, more than what I payed in. My bf disagrees with her and says we would get more back if he claimed our son. My aunts daughter payed in less than 500 last year and got back about 3800. Can anyone explain anything to me? My bf says he can claim head of household, but dont you have to be married to do that? Any advice will be great, and only serious responses please.

Answer 1

My advice is to go into H&R Block together and let them figure out which is the best way to file taxes. They will figure it both ways and tell you which is better at no extra charge. Your boyfriend can only claim head of household if he claims your son and provides over half the amount to maintain the residence...ie groceries, rent, electricity,gas, etc. If you end up claiming your son, then you would have to claim single because you don't provide over half the household support and your bf would have to claim single as well because he would have no child to claim. You don't have to be married to claim Head of household, just have a dependant child and provide over half the household support. Also, what your cousin got back on her taxes has NOTHING to do with you. Each case is different and unique. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Print the forms off of irs.gov and figure your taxes both ways to see how you'd get the most back.

Your aunt is talking about the Earned Income Credit, which since you just worked a couple months you'd probably be eligible for, and your boyfriend probably wouldn't if he makes decent money. EIC is a program where people who worked, but didn't make much, can get an additional amount back beyond what was withheld. With one child, the most you'd get from that is around $2800 if you made around $10,000 for the year. If you made more like $5000 for the year, would be around $1700. If you don't claim the baby, you might still get something from the EIC but not as much.

You don't have to be married to claim head of household - in fact, you CAN'T claim it if you're married, but could file joint.

Answer 3

Your boyfriend can claim head of household.
If you are married, you can not claim head of household.
As to the question of who would get more back, we would need to know the income. My guess would be the boyfriend, because he must have worked more for the year. If he made around $16,000 for the year, he will get a whopper of a refund. You said you worked 3 months out of the year, I am guessing that you made less than $3000. You would get less EIC, than say someone who made $16000.
Also, he has paid more in taxes, so having an extra deduction would really help him. You probably made less than the standard deduction for the year, so you will get back everything you paid in.
I did taxes for a young couple, who asked the same thing. The boyfriend got the bigger refund. I figured out what they each would get back if they did not claim the child and if they did. They took the "babys" part of the refund and started an education fund for her. Smart parents!

Answer 4

There are rules about claiming head of household--it's based on how much support is being provided for the residents by the taxpayer. Since you had income, if you can claim that he didn't support you more than 50% for housing & food, then you are at a stalemate.

It would be best for living together that you come to an agreement anyway.

Answer 5

You can work out the math about who should claim the son. But you also need to look at the earned income credit. This credit is refundable and if your earned income is low enough you should be able to claim it. This credit ranges from $5,000+ to $11,000+. You wont qualify for the $11,000 with one child but in the right circumstances you could get a refund of $8,000+

Answer 6

You don't have to be married to claim head of household. You should come to an agreement on claiming him every other year until you get married. When one of you claims the baby the other can still claim him only as a head living in the house. its hard to explain, so go to H&R Block, they garantee 100% back of all write offs.

Answer 7

"
Example 2—unmarried parents.

You, your 5-year-old son, and your son's father lived together all year. You and your son's father are not married. Your son is a qualifying child of both you and his father because he meets the relationship, age, residency, and support tests for both you and his father. Your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $8,000 and your son's father's AGI is $18,000. You and your son's father may choose which of you will treat the child as a qualifying child. However, if you and he are unable to agree and both treat the child as a qualifying child, only the father will be allowed to treat him as a qualifying child. This is because his AGI, $18,000, is more than your AGI, $8,000.
"

That is the default if you and he managed to unable to agree and both treat the child as a qualifying child.

In the meantime, you two got to discussed on how the two of you going to pay taxes.

Answer 8

you guys should go to do your taxes together and then agree to split the earnings and take a vacation or something. it sounds like you need it.