Head of Household and earned income credit

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 31, 2020
2 replies
20 views

My son and his ex-girlfriend had a baby the end of 2017. He claimed the child for 2018. They broke up at the end of the year. They were never married and do not have court approved custody arraignment. They agreed to split who gets the child tax credit every other year. She took it for 2019. Can my son take the Head of Household and Earned Income credit since they lived together the full year?

ColeenD3

Level 15

Unfortunately, it is not entirely up to them who takes the credit. The IRS has strict guidelines.

In this situation, the first point would be that only one person can pay more than half the cost of keeping up the home. If the two people live together as a family, this would be considered one household, and only one person can be the Head of Household as only one person can pay more than half the household expenses.

Overalll, you must:

Pay for more than half of the household expenses
Be considered unmarried for the tax year, and
You must have a qualifying child or dependent.

For more information, please see this link, Head of Household.

wranglerzAuthor

Level 2

Well she already filed her taxes. He made more than she did, but I don't know if she filed Head of Household and Earned Income. So if she already filed and claimed Head of Household, would he be able to claim Earned Income?

DeanM15

Level 10

Yes, if he is the custodial parent. No, if he is not the custodial parent.

He would be the custodial parent if you have the child for a greater number of nights than the child's mother.

There are some credits and filing statuses that go with the custodial parent, even if the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent and for the child tax credit. The Head of Household filing status, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit stay with the custodial parent. If the custodial parent cannot take one of these credits, then no one gets the credit.

To find out more about dependent children and taxes here and here.

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Bsch4477

Level 15

If you are unmarried but live together with the child, either one of you can claim the child (or children) as dependents. If the parent who claims the child as a dependent also pays more than half the expenses of keeping up their home, they can file as head of household instead of single, which is slightly more favorable. If she claimed the child she could have filed head of household if she paid more than half of the cost of the household and would claim EIC and child care credit if applicable. He would file as single.