Child Credit/Amendment

[laureneswanson]

Hello!

My husband filed his taxes a few weeks ago (we file married filing separately) and claimed our son. After crunching the numbers, it made more sense for me to claim him so he amended his return and sent a check. Now, I'm trying to file my taxes, but cannot claim our son as he already did and the amendment hasn't been processed. What's our best course of action? If I remove him and his amendment goes through, neither of us will receive the credit. Thank you!

[VolvoGirl]

You have to print and mail your return to claim him.  But may I ask why you are filing separate returns?  Sometimes people don't realize the differences between filing  Joint and MFS.

Unless you have a specific reason to file separate returns,

It is usually better to file Joint. Joint has the lowest tax rates and the highest Standard Deduction.   And if you are in a Community Property state MFS gets tricky to figure out.  Here's some things to consider about filing separately……

In the first place you each have to file a separate return, so that's two returns.  And if you are using the Online version that means using 2 accounts and paying the fees twice.  

Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong.  If one person itemizes deductions then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!  

And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.

Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.

See …….

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-...

[laureneswanson]

Thanks! I'm curious if mailing it will make a difference or if they'll still see that he was claimed until the amendment is accepted and reject my mailed version?

As for MFS, it makes a huge difference in our student loan payments if we file jointly. We've done the numbers both ways and it makes more sense to file separately.

[Critter]

Mail in the return and they will processes it even if his amendment has not been processed.