TTAnnaB indicates - "As far as your boyfriend, he can claim the children as the non-custodial parent ". That's not correct. You can't apply the divorced and separated parent rule to parents who are neither divorced nor separated. If you live together, only one of you can claim all of the tax attributes for the children. As the IRS' Publication 17 explains:
"Sometimes a child meets the
rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person. However, only one
person can treat that child as a qualifying child and claim the EIC using that
child. The paragraphs that follow will help you decide who, if anyone, can
claim the EIC when more than one person has the same qualifying child.
You can choose which
person will claim the EIC. If you and someone else have the same qualifying
child, you and the other person(s) can decide which of you, if otherwise
eligible, will take all of the following tax benefits based on the qualifying
child.
- The exemption for the child.
- The child tax credit.
- Head of household filing status.
- The credit for child and dependent care
expenses.
- The exclusion for dependent care
benefits.
- The EIC."
One practical solution is to let your boyfriend claim the child, file Head of Household if he is eligible, claim the children and EIC and let the refund go to the IRS for his back taxes. It's not going to go away and is increasing every day due to failure to pay penalties and interest. Paying out of his refund is probably the least painful way to reduce that debt.
