I share custody of an 11 year old daughter with my ex. She makes more money so claims head of household, and gets the FSA dependent care benefits, but files form 8332 so I get the child tax credit since she makes too much to get it. I'm now re-partnered and have a 1.5 yr old son. I have been claiming him on taxes and using the FSA dependent care for him since my partner wasn't interested in the extra paperwork. But my partner, the toddler's dad, makes more money than I do, so would be able to claim head of household status instead of single like we both did the last few years. So for 2024, I don't think he can claim HoH, otherwise the taxation on the ~$5k I already had deducted pretax from my paycheck gets weird, right? Also, for 2025, I've already had some money taken out of my first two paychecks pretax towards dependent care FSA. But I'm also pregnant and due in August, so next year (when filing taxes for 2025), my understanding is that we can *each* claim one kid, and *each* use $2,500 in FSA dependent care, and he could file HoH. So for 2025, I can just adjust my monthly deductions to equal 2500 and not 5000. But what do I/we do for 2024 to maximize deductions/benefits? Just both file as single or have him file as HoH and deal with some weird tax stuff on the 5k pretax I had taken out?
