claiming a dependent child with unmarried parents

[prd2bndn]

I'm sorry if I have posted this question before, I can not find it.  My son and his girlfriend live together and have one child.  My son earns the higher amount of wages therefore contributes the most to the upkeep of the home and to the support of his child, however they are not married and do not file their taxes jointly.  What is the correct way to file their taxes if they wish for his girlfriend to claim the child to be eligible for the earned income credit and child tax credit?  Can my son list his child as a dependent and claim head of household? or Does he have to leave the child off of his tax forms all together and file single?  The program interview and my research are contradictory in that the interview will allow me to include the child on both tax forms.

[RobertB4444]

Only one person can claim the child and - since they are living in the same house - only one of them can claim the head-of-household deduction.  That does not have to be the same person.

The person who lives with the child and pays more than 50% of the support of the child is the one who is supposed to claim the child.  

Here are some more rules to look at for who can claim the child in a given situation.

[prd2bndn]

I greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.  You have no idea the hair pulling that I have been doing about this issue.  I wonder if you might consider answering this also.  If so, you have my utmost gratitude.  If not, I understand completely.  My issue is this:  They want to maximize their refund.  In order to do that, the girlfriend must claim the child to qualify for the earned income credit and the child dependent care credit(?) the $2,200.00 or portion thereof.  The man would like to file head of household as he provides the most for the family and the household upkeep.  He is okay with her claiming the child and has accounted for the loss of the deduction. In this instance, can they both list the child on their tax forms?  One as a dependent to take the dependent deductions and the other as a non-dependent for the tax benefit?

Thank you so much, in advance, for you consideration and help in this matter.

[DianeW777 · Accepted solution]

As indicated earlier, only one person is eligible to claim the child. And only one is eligible for Head of Household filing status.

In the case of the child living with both parents the IRS will use Tie-Breaker Rules.

IRS tie-breaker rules (IRS Publication 501) determine which parent claims a child when both parents (or others) claim the same qualifying child. The child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent with whom they lived the longest during the year, or if equal, the parent with the highest adjusted gross income (AGI), note

Head of Household filing status applies to only one person and, in this situation, must claim the child on their tax return. They both live in the same house with the child so it needs to be a decision who claims the child or the IRS will make the decision if they both claim the child and it will be your son.

• Guide to Filing Taxes as Head of Household

In this situation there is no required waiver since all three live together in the same house. A simple decision about who will claim the child. If it's the mother, then no one can use the Head of Household filing status, each will use Single.

[Opus 17]

Sorry, no.

In this case, only one parent can claim the child, and receives all tax benefits they are entitled to.  The other parent should not even list the child on their return.  You may read some things about custody agreements and special rules for "splitting" the dependent credit -- those rules only apply to parents who live apart and share custody under a court order, and do not apply to parents who live together unmarried.

The only way to know the best combination is to test the different scenarios.  If the mother claims the child and the father claims nothing, then both file as single, the father can't file as HOH.  But the mother might get EIC or other benefits.  If the father claims the child, he can file as HOH, and would qualify for lower tax rates, but the mother gets no special credits or benefits for a dependent.