@smccaffrey23 wrote:
This is great info. Thanks for the direction. Since she is planning on moving in with me in the near future, I will take a look at the Medicaid qualifications and thoroughly assess that situation. I ran some numbers on the tax estimator and it looks like she would gain more benefit filing by herself. It may all be a moot point any way if moving in effects her medicaid.
You changed the parameters of the situation.
For 2020, you can only claim your child as a dependent if the child lived in your home (slept/spent the night in your home) more than half the nights of the year. That's 183 or more nights. Suppose they move in Sept 1, that would be about 120 nights until the end of 2020. Did the child sleep over in your home at least 63 other nights?
If not, then you can't claim the dependent care credit even if you paid for care, and you can't use head of household status, even if you support your GF and child. You could only claim the child as a dependent if the other parent gives you a signed form 8332 waiver and agrees not to claim the child. The other parent can still use the child to qualify for EIC. This probably makes it more likely that your GF should claim the child, since a significant part of your tax savings would come from claiming HOH status, which you can't do unless the child lived in your home more than half the nights of the year.
