My boyfriend and I live together. We have 1 child together and he has 1 child from a previous relationship. Whats the best way to file to get the most money back? I worked all year and made the most money. He only worked about 3 months of the year as he took some time off to build a house.
We were wondering if we could both file head of household and each claim one kid. I mean, since we are not married we are technically roommates anyways. Is this possible or is there another way to do it?
2007-01-01 07:12:23 · 9 answers · asked by hopeISalive 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Head of household does not mean what you are thinking. You and your boyfriend can claim both head of household as long as you have at least one child to claim each you will be fine. It has nothing to to do with the physical address.
2007-01-01 08:21:10 · answer #1 · answered by Lynne D 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You live together so only one of you can be head of household. There is a large amount of misunderstanding about this filing status. If a person made a small amount of money and is in a low tax bracket, the additional standard deduction provided by head of household results in little or no tax advantage. This filing status is not necessary to get any of the credits or deductions connected to children.
The person who provided over half the cost of maintaining the house is the head of household, and that would be you. The other person, assuming they are not married, files as single.
Your boyfriend is the only one in the household who can claim the child from a previous relationship, assuming that child also lives in the household or the other parent has waived the dependency exemption. Either of you can claim your child.
Figure the taxes:
I. Boyfriend, single, two dependents
You, head of household, zero dependents
2. Boyfriend, single, one dependent
You, head of household, one dependent
And see which gives you more money. It is impossible for me to say which will be better, since one or both of you may qualify for the Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, or Additional Child Tax Credit.
2007-01-01 07:31:47 · answer #2 · answered by ninasgramma 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only one of you can claim Head of Household. It sounds like you provided over half the cost of maintaining the household, therefore, you are the one that can claim that status. Your boyfriend would file as single.
As far as the kids, either one of you can claim the child you had together. If you are in a higher tax bracket, you would gain the most benefit from claiming the child on your tax return. For his child, only he or the child's mother can claim the child (under normal circumstances such as the mother is in the picture as the other person raising the child and not a grandparent o somene else).
2007-01-01 13:12:42 · answer #3 · answered by raindrop 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that there can only be one "head of household" for a particular address. I think that the best way to go, in your case, would be to both file as "single", and since your roommate only worked 25% of the year, you may be able to claim him and his child as dependents.
Call or visit the local IRS office and ask. You don't have to give any personal info. In fact, depending on your income they may offer to complete your forms for you.
2007-01-01 07:30:44 · answer #4 · answered by PALADIN 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, none of you may want to be head of loved ones as you're married. For head of loved ones you should be unmarried or did not stay along with your better 0.5 for very last six months of the year and characteristic a qualifying depending and pay more suitable than 0.5 the fee of the loved ones. you may really document as married filing at the same time or married filing one after the different. in case you document separate go back, you received't get many credit such as earned earnings credit.
2016-12-01 09:53:13 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried and you must have paid more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person for more than half the year. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than one half of your tax year of a qualifying person.
Since it is impossible for both you and your bf to have provided more than half the cost of maintaining the same home, it is not permissible to both claim head of household for the same household.
2007-01-01 08:49:53 · answer #6 · answered by CC 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Not only can you that is the appropriate manner in which to file
2007-01-04 19:04:45 · answer #7 · answered by dcholsted 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you need a good tax accountant. We're just a bunch of yokels on this thing.
2007-01-01 07:21:15 · answer #8 · answered by Chris P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Since you are not married yes you can
2007-01-01 07:24:50 · answer #9 · answered by glamour04111 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋