Married filing seperatly

timothy-r-lutes — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 05:21:26 GMT

My wife and I are no longer living together and are filing separately but we have a kid, can we both claim him or can only one of us claim him?

For 2016, it depends on how long you were physically sepa...

Hal_Al — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 05:21:26 GMT

For 2016, it depends on how long you were physically separated. If less than 6 months, than only one of you can claim him. See the "special rule" below if you were separated longer and for future years.

The 6 month rule also applies to using Head of Household (HoH) status instead of Married Filing Separately (MFS).

There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the exemption to him.

So, it's good idea to let the other parent know that you will be claiming those items, as many first time divorced parents are not aware of this rule and may try to claim those items, which will cause the IRS to send out letters.

Ref: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2014_publink1000170897 Scroll down to "Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart)"

You are allowed to File as married Filing Jointly (MFJ) i...

Hal_Al — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 05:21:28 GMT

You are allowed to File as married Filing Jointly (MFJ) if you can agree to do so.

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Married filing seperatly

For 2016, it depends on how long you were physically sepa...

You are allowed to File as married Filing Jointly (MFJ) i...