Claiming my son

[Haley10101992]

• Can my boyfriend who me and my son live with for over a year claim?My son for the child tax credit for 2025 because I did not do not work and provided over 90% of household income

[Bsch4477]

If I understand correctly you have no income and are not filing a return. Your boyfriend and your son lived together all of the tax year and provided more than half of his support. I assume that the child has no income. In that case your boyfriend can claim the child as a dependent but must file as single and not Head of Household. 

[Haley10101992]

Thank you and is the reason he can't claim head of household because we are not married? And correct i do not work im just in the waiting process (approval process) of getting social security disability benefits 

[VolvoGirl]

Actually it is not married to claim Head of Household or lived apart from your spouse.   Is he the father of your son?   To claim Head of Household he has to have a blood relative.  

Who is a qualifying person for Head of Household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/family/help/what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household/00/2...

And is he claiming both your son and you as dependents?   He can probably claim both of you if you lived with him all year.   

[Opus 17]

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@Haley10101992 wrote:

Thank you and is the reason he can't claim head of household because we are not married? And correct i do not work im just in the waiting process (approval process) of getting social security disability benefits 

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Your boyfriend can only claim your child (not his biological child and you are not married) if all these things are true:

1. The child lived in the boyfriends home all year.

2. The BF paid more than half the child's support 

3. The child has less than $5500 of gross income.

4. You have less than $5500 of income and don't file a tax return, or you only file a return to claim a refund of withholding and claim no other credits, deductions or dependents.

The child does not qualify your BF to file HOH because the law says the child does not qualify for that purpose -- to qualify a parent to claim HOH, the child must be a blood relative or a step-child by marriage.

However, if you were married, you would still not be able to file HOH because you live together (HOH is intended for single parents).  You would file a joint married return instead. 

[xmasbaby0]

You say "my son"----which is confusing for us.   If your BF is your son's biological father then yes, he can claim the child as a dependent and get child-related credits like the child tax credit and maybe earned income credit, as well as file as Head of Household.   If you lived with him for the entire year (by the end of 2025) he can also claim you for the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents.

If your BF is not your child's father, then he can only claim him as a "qualified relative" dependent if the child lived with him for the entire year.   But if BF is not the bio-father, then he cannot get the child tax credit, earned income credit or HOH filing status by claiming your child.   He would only be able to get the $500 credit for other dependents.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent