How am I supposed to file taxes?

[Kaliangel20]

Hello Everyone!

During the year of 2019 I only worked 2 weeks with a pharmaceutical company. I do have a 6 year old daughter from a previous relationship.  My spouse, on the other hand, has worked all year and has supported both of us. My question is, should I  file with my daughter with those 2 weeks or have him claim us both?

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

Neither.  You file a joint return.  Your spouse cannot claim you as a dependent, since a spouse can never be claimed as a dependent.   Your income must be included on the return, even though it was only a small amount.   And you both claim your child on the return.

If you were legally married at the end of 2019 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 $24,400 (+$1300 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.

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...

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

A spouse is Never claimed as a dependent.  If you are legally married then you should be filing as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.  You both enter the income you received in 2019 on one tax return.  You enter your child as a dependent on the joint tax return.

[Kaliangel20]

Thank you @DoninGA DoninGA for your reply. We are not legally married, but have a domestic partnership document. If that even works for these types of thing lol. 

[Kaliangel20]

Thank you @xmasbaby0  for your very detailed response 🙂 ! We are not legally married, but have a domestic partnership document. If that even works for these types of thing lol. 

[xmasbaby0]

What state are you in?  Wish your question had mentioned that you are not legally married, when you mentioned your "spouse."  Are you in a state that recognizes common law marriage?

CO, DC, CO, IA, KS, MT, OK. RI, SC, TX, UT

[Kaliangel20]

@xmasbaby0  We live in the state of Florida. My apologies for not clearing that out.

[xmasbaby0]

Then you are not legally married or in a common law marriage.  @Critter--you are familiar with FL.  Care to comment?

[Critter]

I am and FL doesn't recognise common law so your options are to file single or if you qualify Head of Household.   The program will walk you thru this in the MY INFO tab ... and neither of you should file until you decide on the best course of action. 

[Hal_Al]

As for you claiming your child, how much did you make during that 2 weeks?  A simple answer is that if you made less than $3000, you should let your partner claim both of you (if he qualifies, see below).

The money you hear about people getting for just filing a tax return claiming kids requires them to  have some earned income (wages or self employment). Without earned income, they are not eligible for the "refundable" Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit.  Both credits are calculated on the amount of earned income you have. No earned income means no "refund". A small amount of earned income means a small refund. The child tax credit does not "kick in" unless you have at least $2500 of earned income.

As for your domestic partner claiming your child, the child may qualify as a dependent, but because she is not related, she cannot be a qualifying child for the earned income credit, child tax credit or Head of Household filing status.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Other dependent (qualifying relative) credit is worth (up to) $500 per dependent and is non-refundable.  That is, it can only be used to reduce an actual tax liability.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year 
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4200 ($4150 in 2018)
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

In addition to the above requirements, to claim your boy/girlfriend's children, they must meet all of the above requirements and:
--- your boy/girlfriend must not be required to file a return,
--- he/she does not file a return claiming the children