Claiming step children

[Bradleywhills]

If my wife and I are married filing jointly, can I claim my 2 step children since they live with me for more than 50% of the year? Also when married filing jointly do my wife and I (in the eyes of the IRS) share an AGI? Or in other words are we viewed as one taxable entity? "

[bluedeb]

If your wife has the right to claim the children & since they lived with you more than 50% of the time, you can claim them.  When you enter their information, they are considered your children. For your AGI, it depends how you filed in 2017, if you filed a joint return in 2017  then you use the same AGI for both of you.  If you did not file a joint return in 2017, then use the separate AGI from each of your 2017 returns.

[xmasbaby0]

If you and your spouse are filing a joint return then the children can be claimed as dependents on your joint return since you say they live with the two of you for more than 50% of the time.  A step-child is treated the same as your own child on your tax return.   If you filed a joint return for 2017, then the AGI is the same for both of you when you enter it for your 2018 return in order to e-file 2018.