Yes. She may be able to file as head of household if she meets all
the following requirements.
1. She's unmarried on the last day of the year.
2. She paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
3. A
qualifying person (your child) lived with her in the home for more than half the year
For the child care, since your not married, she would be the only one eligible to claim the credit but she would need to pay for the care. There are times when you can "split a child" where each parent would take the tax benefits for a child that they qualify for. However, this is for "divorced or separated parents or parents who live apart".
See “Children of divorced or separated parents or parents
who live apart” in IRS Pub 17 for more info.
Another possibility, if you qualify, consider that you might claim Head of Household with your child. Either way, with this info, you may be able to plan for future tax years.
For your info, here are the rules to claim child care.
To qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit, you must meet all of these criteria:
- You (and your spouse, if filing jointly) must have earned income
- The earned income requirement for one spouse is waived if s/he was a full-time student or
- Disabled, if they lived with the other spouse for more than 6 months in 2016
- You paid caregiving expenses so that you (and your spouse, if filing jointly) could work or look for work
- The work/look for work requirement for one spouse is waived if s/he was a full-time student or
- Disabled, if they lived with the other spouse for more than 6 months in 2016
- You paid a caregiver to care for a Qualifying Person. The caregiver cannot be:
- Your spouse;
- Your dependent;
- Your child if they were under 19 on the last day of 2016, even if not your dependent; or
- The parent of the Qualifying Person, if the Qualifying Person is your child under the age of 13 during 2016.
- You cannot file with the Married Filing Separately filing status
- You must furnish the care provider's name, address, and (unless it's a tax-exempt organization) their SSN, ITIN, or EIN on your return.
