My boyfriend and I have a child but we are going to file seperately. Is there any way we can share our child as a dependent for both of our income taxes??
2007-01-30 11:33:33 · 6 answers · asked by cavitia 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
"My wife and I are married filing separately. We have one son and we meet all of the dependency exemption tests. We contributed an equal amount to our son's support and want to know if we both can claim him on our separate returns?"
Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filling Information, for more information.
ANSWER: A dependency exemption may only be claimed on one return. Since your son is a qualifying child for both of you, you and your wife can decide who will claim the child. If you cannot agree on who will claim him refer to Tie-Breaker Rule in Publication 501
References:
Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
Form 2120 (PDF), Multiple Support Declaration
Tax Topic 354, Dependents
I would imagine this would pertain to you too...
2007-01-30 11:48:53 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, sorry, you can't "share" exemptions. If you all 3 live in the same household, the one with the higher income should file as Head of Household and claim the child. The other will file as Single. That will generally keep the total tax liability as low as possible (and the refunds, if any, as large as possible.)
One of you (but NOT both!) may also be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit as well. Either of you can claim the child for that purpose so it's possible that he could claim the exemption and you could claim the child for the EITC or vice versa. You should figure your taxes every possible ways and see which one gives you the largest refund between you.
2007-01-30 19:43:21 · answer #2 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope, S/he can only be claimed by one of you. And that person depends on who she has lived with and provided her support. The person she had lived with shoudl claim her but the other parent can claim with a written statement from the first parent AND the second provided over 50% of the childs support. As for EIC ONLY the parent they lived with can claim that.
2007-01-30 19:38:59 · answer #3 · answered by Betsy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't do a 1/2 of dependent each. One of you has to claim him/her.
2007-01-30 19:41:14 · answer #4 · answered by miketorse 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No - 1 kid, one return. Whoever provides the majority of support claims the kid.
2007-01-30 19:37:52 · answer #5 · answered by Michael H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not in the same year....and unless you are married, you can't file jointly anyway.
2007-01-30 19:37:03 · answer #6 · answered by domers13 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋