dependent child

prd2bndn · ‎March 14, 2026

My son and his girlfriend live together but are not married. They have a son together. The TT program will allow me to put their son on both of their tax forms and claim him as a dependent for one and a non-dependent for the other. My question is, is this allowable? All my research has said that only one of them is allowed to claim their son on their tax form and the other has to leave him off. Which is the correct way? Please help!

xmasbaby0

Do not enter the child on both returns.

If you are a non-married couple who live together with your child, then only one of you can claim the child(ren) and the one not claiming the child does not enter anything at all on their tax return about the child. The “sharing” of child-related credits you may have heard about is only possible between divorced or never married parents who live apart and share custody and who have a written agreement to share the credits. The child’s SSN can only be entered on one tax return. Any other return with the child’s SSN on it will be rejected. If you are a family, then work out how to share the refund between yourselves.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

prd2bndn

Thank you for clearing this up for me. I have posted the question again with more details and I think it confused me more. But your answer tells me that I can't put the child on both returns which narrows down my options. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. Have a great day!