Child not showing as Dependent on Married Filing Single Return

[MM00]

Every year my spouse and I have filed Married Jointly.   This year though married, we plan to file separately, as one of us would be in a very high tax bracket than the other.

We have a child who we have claimed as a dependent all these years. My child is in college and the 529 plan contribution and distribution that we use for our child is on my spouses name.  Last year I earned more than my spouse. 

We would like to have my spouse claim the dependent child this year on her Married Filing Single return.  I went through all the questions, but it indicates that our child cannot be a dependent on her tax return.  How can we fix this. 

[VolvoGirl]

By the way, it's called Married filing Separate not Single.  It should let one of you claim the child.  You must have answered a question wrong.  Go back through My Info.

But here's some info on filing MFS......

Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong.  If one person itemizes deductions on Schedule A then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!  And if you are in a Community Property state it can be complicated to figure out.

And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.

Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.

[xmasbaby0]

There is no such thing as "married filing single."   You mean married filing separately.   And....when you file MFS, you are not eligible for any sort of education credits.

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...