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Can two parents claim the same child?

My boyfriend keeps trying to tell me we can both claim our baby & saying that it’s possible
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Accepted Solutions
xmasbaby0
Level 15
Intuit Approved! This answer has been verified for accuracy by an Intuit expert employee

Can two parents claim the same child?

Do you all live together as a family?  Then NO you cannot split the child-related credits between two tax returns.   The form your BF might have seen and been confused by   (form 8332) is for divorced or never-married parents who do not live together and share custody of a child.

 

If you are all living together then only one of you can claim the child.  The other one files Single and does not enter anything about the child on a tax return.    You can try figuring it out both ways and see how it comes out best----the parent who paid over half the costs of the household could file as Head of Household and claim the child to get the earned income credit, child tax credit and childcare credit.  And then you could work out a friendly way to share.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

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2 Replies
KrisD15
Expert Alumni

Can two parents claim the same child?

No, it is not. There is a way where divorced parents can agree to have the custodial parent allow the non-custodial parent to claim a child's exemption, but not for more than one person to claim the same child. 

HERE is more from the IRS

 

 

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xmasbaby0
Level 15
Intuit Approved! This answer has been verified for accuracy by an Intuit expert employee

Can two parents claim the same child?

Do you all live together as a family?  Then NO you cannot split the child-related credits between two tax returns.   The form your BF might have seen and been confused by   (form 8332) is for divorced or never-married parents who do not live together and share custody of a child.

 

If you are all living together then only one of you can claim the child.  The other one files Single and does not enter anything about the child on a tax return.    You can try figuring it out both ways and see how it comes out best----the parent who paid over half the costs of the household could file as Head of Household and claim the child to get the earned income credit, child tax credit and childcare credit.  And then you could work out a friendly way to share.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
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