Can i claim my children as non qualifying dependents

[dblackbluel]

I have 3 biological children. All live with me 365 days a year. I pay more than half of the expenses for all 3. One child is from a former relationship, we will name her S. The other 2 are from my current relationship, we will name them E and H. We all live together full time. I have full custody/placement of S and she is not eligible to be claimed by her biological mother. I claim S and my fiance claims E and H. My question is, can i still enter E and H on my taxes as non qualifying dependents? It seems to help my deductions/credits, but I just want to make sure this is legal and that I'm not doing something wrong.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

No. You are seeing false results. If you and the other parent live together, only one of you can claim the child for any tax benefit. The interview is confusing (it's designed for divorced parents). The second parent should not enter the child, at all. 

[dblackbluel]

When it asks me if the child is being claimed by another parent I said yes and it tells me they are still eligible for eic and dependent care. I am not claiming dependent care. The children (regardless of qualifying dependent or not) can only be used for one parents EIC and not both?

[Hal_Al]

That's correct, a child  can only be used for one parent for EIC and not both. When the parents live together, only the parent that is claiming the child as a dependent can claim EIC.

That's not true when the parents live apart (as in a divorce situation). Different rules apply.

TurboTax thinks you don't live with the other parent and is awarding you the EIC. Delete the child. The only thing you can get from entering him/her is errors.

[dblackbluel]

Thank you.