Q. My spouse and I file separately (MFS) and have two children, can each of us claim one child?
A. Yes.
Q. Does the person with the higher AGI rule prevent us from each claiming a child?
A. No. The higher AGI is only a tie breaker rule if the two of you can't agree on who will claim a child.
Q. What is this all about?
- You lived apart from your spouse during the last 6 months of the year
- Your home was the qualifying person's main home for more than half of the year
- You paid for more than half of the cost of keeping up that home for the year,
A. It has nothing to do with claiming children. If you are married, you may only file as Married Filing jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS). You may not use Single or Head of Household (HoH) filing status. An exception: you may use HoH filing status if you meet those three conditions.
