My girlfriend and her 2 children live with me, can we file jointly or can I claim them?

[llgilbert77]

My girlfriend has 'sole' custody of both children. She does work; brings in approximately $9850 a year. I don't charge her rent, but I don't really pay anything more than I would if they did not live with me...just in food (which we share the cost of). She pays all of their individual (additional) expenses.
Can we file jointly, or am I able to claim her/them?

[Texas Roger · Accepted solution]

You cannot file jointly because you are not legally married. You cannot claim her as dependents because she made more than $4050. She would not be required to file a tax return for less than $10,350 of W-2 income. However, if she did file a return and claimed the children, she would qualify for EIC and additional child tax credit for the children. You would not be eligible for any of those credits if you claimed the children as your dependents.