You must be answering something incorrectly in MY INFO so go back to MY INFO and go through all of the interview questions again slowly and carefully---read every screen top to bottom.
Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number. Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment. If your child was born in 2025 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year. There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support. Say NO to that question.
By claiming your child correctly you should be eligible to file as Head of Household, and get the child-related credits like child tax credit and maybe earned income credit.
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.
And....if your GF lived with you the whole year in 2025, you may be able to claim her as a "qualified relative" dependent for the $500 credit for other dependents.
**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.**
