New Child born

[campgirl21]

Hello,

My husband and I have a 2 year old and just had our son in April of 2021, will we be able to claim him on our taxes for 2021? Also, I am a full time stay at home mom with no income, do I qualify as a dependent under my husband?

Thank you!

-Nicole

[DoninGA]

Yes, you will be able to claim the child as a dependent on your 2021 tax return.  You just need to indicate that the child lived with you for the Whole Year since the child was born in 2021.

A spouse is Never a dependent.  You should be filing your tax return as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.

[NateTheGrEAt]

Hi Nicole,

Congrats on the new addition! You can definitely claim the child born in April 2021 on your taxes for 2021. When preparing your taxes be sure to indicate that the baby lived with you "the entire year". TurboTax does remind you of this when entering the dependent, but I want to point it out specifically because it's a very common error for new parents to enter only the number of months since the child was born. If they were born during 2021 and lived with you the entire time they were alive, you should report that they lived with you the entire year. 

A spouse is not claimed as a dependent, even if they don't have any income of their own. The best solution is for you and your husband to file "Married Filing Jointly". That way, you take advantage of the more favorable tax brackets and the increased standard deduction.