Can my boyfriend claim me and my children

[Ren4040]

Hello. I stopped working last spring due to an illness. I have NOT been approved for disability yet, but I stopped working last May 2024. My boyfriend whom lives with me and my children has since been the primary breadwinner in our home. I earned approx 7-8000 in 2024 before stopping work. Can he still file me and my children as dependents? The children are not his blood children. Last, can he file head of household?

Thanks!

[Hal_Al]

If you made $7-8000 earned income, in 2024, you will get more for claiming the children then he will. 

Q. Can he file me as a dependent.

A. No. Your income was too high to be a dependent.

Q. Can he file my children as his dependents?

A. Yes, if you lived together all year and "has since been the primary breadwinner" amounts to more than half their support for the whole year.

Q. Can he file head of household (HoH)?

A. No. He must have dependents who are blood (or adopted or by marriage) related to qualify for HoH.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Other dependent (qualifying relative) credit is worth (up to) $500 per dependent and is non-refundable.  That is, it can only be used to reduce an actual tax liability.

The chidden cannot be his QC dependents because they are not related. A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4700 (2023) ($5050 for 2024).
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)

In addition to the above requirements, to claim your girlfriend's children, they must meet all of the above requirements and:
--- your girlfriend must not be required to file a return,
--- she does not file a return claiming the children

[Opus 17]

1. Can he claim you.  No, not this year, because your income is more than $5050.

2. Can he claim your children.  Maybe.  He can claim them if you are not a taxpayer, and they lived in his home the entire year (you didn't mention this one way or the other), and he provided more than half their financial support.  They would be "other" dependents and would qualify for a $500 tax credit, and not the $2000 child tax credit.   (You are not a "taxpayer" if you don't file a tax return, or only file to get a refund of your job withholding and don't claim any dependents, credits or other benefits.)

3. No.  Even though he cares for them and provides support for the home, they are not a qualifying type of dependent for head of household.  

You may want to explore filing a return and claiming the children yourself.  You would get a little bit of the additional child tax credit, and a little bit of Earned Income Credit, from $7000 of wages.  That might be more than the $500 per child he would get.   However, you can't split the children.  If you claim one to get some kind of credit, you are a "taxpayer" which means you must claim both and he can't claim either, even if you wanted to allow it.  You should at least compare scenarios.    

[Mike9241]

he can't claim you or your children for 2024

he can't claim you because your income was over $5,050

he might be able to claim the children as qualifying relatives if 1) you are not required to file a tax return and you do not file a tax return or you do file solely to claim a refund of taxes withheld and 2) he lived in the household for all of 2024. However, if you file and claim them you might be entitled to certain tax credits that would be lost if he claimed them. It does not appear that if you claim them you can file as head of household because it seems your BF paid more than 1/2 the cost of maintaining the household in 2024. the only way to determine the best way to file is to prepare returns where he claims them and you file as single (assuming I'm correct about you not qualifying as HOH)  and the other way around.

he can not claim head of household because the children are not blood relatives.