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Single father, filing as head of the house or married

Hi,

In May 31st, 2020, my wife left me and our 6 month old son and went back to her country. I took care of him by myself. I filed for divorce at the end of  July 2020, but I did not get a case number until October 21st 2020, and just now are half way with divorce papers . I'm wondering if I should file as married again, or head of the house? We also, both got stimulus checks in May 2020, $1200 each. In 2019 we filed as married with one dependent.

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5 Replies

Single father, filing as head of the house or married

File HOH.

 

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

 

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your filing status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

 

 

Children born in 2020 were not included in the 1st stimulus because those checks were based on 2018 or 2019. No one got stimulus money for babies born in 2020 because the IRS did not know about those babies or have their SSN’s. But on your 2020 tax return you can claim your child born in 2020 for the stimulus money, as well as the other child-related credits.  You enter your new dependent in My Info.  When you go through the screens in My Info make sure to say your child lived with you the WHOLE year.  When it asks the oddly worded question about whether your child paid for over half their own support say NO.

 

  

The stimulus check is an advance on a credit you can receive on your 2020 tax return.  If something went wrong or you did not get the stimulus check in 2020, you can get it when you file your 2020 return in early 2021

The Recovery Rebate Credit will be found in the FEDERAL REVIEW section. ( you should see "Let's make sure you got the right stimulus amount”)  If you are eligible it will end up on line 30 of your 2020 Form 1040.

 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payment-information-center-topic-j-reconciling-on-your-...

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901539-how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-filing

Click on Tax Tools on the left side of the screen. Click on Tools. Click on View Tax Summary. Click on Preview my 1040 on the left side of the screen.

 

 

**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.**

Single father, filing as head of the house or married

Hi, thank you for the answer, its helpful. I wanted to make a correction, my son was born in Nov 23 2019, so it would be 7 months and 8 days when she left us, so he was included in 2019 tax as dependent. I apologize, I had many sleepless nights and I'm not realizing how fast time flies..

Single father, filing as head of the house or married

Good luck to you, "Dad" --- hope things improve for you.

**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.**

Single father, filing as head of the house or married

Thank you. Just one more follow up question. Do I bear any responsibility as far as my wife's taxes are concerned? She was employed until she she decided to leave.

DMarkM1
Employee Tax Expert

Single father, filing as head of the house or married

If you are filing "Head of Household" you have no responsibility for your estranged spouse's income.  

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