During 2018 I was married and lived in the same house with my husband and daughter. I travelled alone with her more than he did. Can I claim her as my dependent?

[xmasbaby0]

What is your fling status? Are you filing married filing separately or joint?  What are you trying to do?

[chatzi]

We are filing separately, so only one of us can claim her. I am not sure if I could claim her based on the fact that I have spend more nights with her during the year.

[chatzi]

We are now separated and thus filing separately. He has already claimed her as his dependent without my consent. And trying to figure out if I could claim her as my dependent for the reasons stated above

[xmasbaby0]

You have a tricky situation then.  You say you lived together in the same house.  In order for you to file Head of Household you would have to have been separated for at least the last six months of the year.  So if your spouse has already claimed the child and filed a return, your e-file claiming her will be rejected.  You can still file and claim her, but you will have to print and mail your return.  And then the IRS will eventually sort out who could claim the child.  Be ready to prove it should be you.

[chatzi]

Thanks that's is what I thought I should do. Do you happen to know if traveling alone with the child would count towards the nights spend with her? For e.g. if the child lived in our common house apart from traveling and I travelled with her alone 10 more days than her father, would that count as me having spent more nights with her?

[xmasbaby0]

No comment.  It is going to be up to the IRS to determine which of you claims her.

[xmasbaby0]

Not sure why you are choosing to file separate returns--usually the worst way to file.  But only one of you can claim your child.  You do not have to base it on who had her the most nights since you are still married and lived together.  All you have to do is agree on who is claiming her.

If you were legally married at the end of 2018 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 $24,000 (+$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...