I got married in November 2013. My spouse's mother wants to claim her as dependent since she was staying with her till November and she has paid for her living expenses and tuition. I have a taxable income of abut $70,000 for this year and I paid about $10K in federal taxes. My spouse graduated in May 2013 and could have earnings of less than $1,000 for this year.
My spouse would be 23 by December 31st of this year and we are debating whether we should file separately and let her mom claim her as dependent or to file jointly and claim higher deduction.
I have checked the qualifying child articles on the IRS website, I could not understand the marital status clause clearly. Can her mom still claim her as dependent. Could someone please help me out with this dilemma.
