My husband and I are getting divorced. We are going to file as married, filing separately and I claim our child. Does he need our child's SSN to do his taxes?

[xmasbaby0]

The child can only be claimed on one tax return.   If you are the custodial parent you are the one who can claim the child.   If you lived apart for at least the last six months of 2023 and the child was with you, you can file as Head of Household and your spouse files as married filing separately. 

Or....if you both file married filing separately, then the child is only listed as a dependent on ONE of your returns.

If you were legally married at the end of 2023 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 $27,700 (+$1500 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 since with online, you get one return per fee.

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...

[lyndsaye91]

So since our child can only be listed as dependent on ONE return, will this mean that my soon to be ex husband would not need our son's Social Security Number at all to complete his own return? 

Thank you! 

[xmasbaby0]

He has no reason to enter your child's SSN on a tax return if he is not claiming the child as a dependent.