Can 2 ppl claim a child if they both live together & provide equally to the child? I make higher income & gave $6k in child expense. GF wants to claim b/c school fin aid.

[fjschneller]

Me and my GF both live together with our 1yr old child. We both contributed equally but she wants to claim the child in order to get more financial aid assistance back for school. I've given $6k for child related expenses into the Dependent Care and make the most income.  Am I essentially screwed out of the dependent claim? Is it possible to both claim the child?

Thanks

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

No, it is not possible for two people to claim the same dependent and "split" the benefits in this way.  When two individuals try to claim the same dependent, the IRS will only allow one person the claim by applying  Tiebreaker rules. (Click on the link for more information).

In this case, if you both are biological parents of the child and lived together all year, the person with the higher claim is the parent with the higher income.

However, either of you can claim the child.  You can each prepare your return with the child, and determine who gets the greater benefit.  The other simply doesn't make any claim.