Claiming Step Daughter Scenario

[TattooTrav]

The mother and I are living in two separate houses but we are still together. She does not work, I support both households by paying all the bills. My step daughter lives with her mom at the other house. My step daughters real father wants to claim her on his taxes this year. I told him no because even though she doesn't live with me, her mom and I are still married and I pay the bills. He pays weekly child support of I think $50 but does not pay anything else. Who legally gets to claim her? I feel I'm correct, however he is the real father. I have claimed her for the last 6 years without issue but he has never tried to dispute it. This is in Upstate NY. Thanks in advance. Google search did not have anything this specific so I could not find an answer.

[Bsch4477]

If you file a married jointly return with your wife the child would be a dependent on your joint return through the mother who has the right to claim her since she lives with her. 

[xmasbaby0]

The fact that you are living in two separate houses does not prevent you from being allowed to file a joint return.  Filing joint is usually better.  And --as SuperUser Bsch4477 so correctly pointed out, you can claim the child on the joint return.   The chid support the bio-dad pays does not give him the right to claim her as his dependent -- and she did not live with him.

If you were legally married at the end of 2019 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $24,400 (+$1300 for each spouse 65 or older)  You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

[TattooTrav]

Thank you so much for the replies. This is what I have done in the past and I was pretty sure I was correct that he couldn't claim her, but I wanted to be sure.

[xmasbaby0]

You are welcome.