My fiance and I have been living together all of part of 2005 and all of 2006. His two sons moved in June 1, 006. My fiance is the "stay at home dad" taking care of the boys and I have supported him and the boys completely with him having no income at all. So I would think I could claim them as dependetns as their mother doen't work (she gets welfare for the boys (which she keeps) and that is what she lives off of. I have reported her to Welfare many times telling them that she is still collecting welfare for the kids and they are not in her custody, but tthey don't do anything about it.
But I want to claim the kids as I have provided ALL of their support since June, but reading the publication in the IRS book it looks like I can't because they are not my kids. Does this sound right to any of you professionals out there? What about the child tax credit, can I get that too?
I really need some good advice or else I will owe them big time, I went exempt for the whole year!
2007-02-27 08:33:34 · 4 answers · asked by hargonagain 4 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Claim Him: Maybe. If he lived with you the entire year and his income is under $3300 and your relationship does not violate local law, then you should be able to claim him.
Claim the Kids: No. Because the kids are the qualifying dependents of someone else (even if they don't file) then you can not claim them. The IRS tightened up these rules back in 2005.
2007-02-27 08:55:05 · answer #1 · answered by Wayne Z 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think you are correct, you cannot claim them.
The easiest solution would be for you to go ahead and get married. That's a large expense for you to be bearing and not have the tax benefit of doing so. You would then be able to claim your husband as well.
If you postponed the marriage because you are planning a big wedding, I would consider going to the Justice of the Peace now. You can get the financial benefits (and peace of mind) immediately and still have an enjoyable wedding ceremony at a later date.
I've had a couple friends that got officially married in a courthouse and just didn't tell anyone until after the wedding ceremony, so they'd get a good turnout at the ceremony. It does seem kind of weird, but not quite as weird as a woman supporting a man and two kids with no other help. Get married and claim the exemption. If you're going to live like a family, may as well become one (legally).
2007-02-27 09:01:19 · answer #2 · answered by morimanno 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You can very possibly claim your boyfriend as a dependent, since he lived with you all year, you paid over half of his support, and he didn't have over $3300 gross income. Caliming your fiance as a dependent will NOT qualify you to file as head of household though, since he's not closely related through blood or marriage - you'll have to file as single.
But your reading of the IRS regs is correct, you can't claim his kids, or get the child tax credit for them. If you get married in 2007, you could then claim them since stepkids count as your qualifying children - fiance's kids don't.
2007-02-27 14:17:13 · answer #3 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunetly, unless you married your fiance or adopted his kids during the year 2006, you can not claim them. I wish it were different. You may be able to appeal to the IRS to have some sort of special case. Sorry!
2007-02-27 08:52:23 · answer #4 · answered by boonestudent18 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋