[Ecooke21]

I live with my fiance, just had a child. We need to do our taxes..Since we are not married, we will file seperate. We had our son on the 26 of dec, can one of us claim him?..I thought we can.. also, should SHE claim him, or should I .. she made more than me in 05(on paper anyway)..Is it in our benefit to have her claim him? We obviously want the maximum return..

[ChrisNoF4i]

First off, congrats on squeezing the kid out before the end of the year! That is great tax strategy. You can take the dependency exemption for the whole year even though you only supported him for 5 days. Plus, you're probably eligible for the child tax credit. He does need a social security number to be claimed on anyone's return though. If he doesn't have one yet, do it now. She should probably claim him if she makes more than you. If she makes more than $75K, that answer might be different.

[Ecooke21]

So are you saying she can claim him(she DOES make under 75k yr.)..And I can get a different tax credit?

btw, thanks for the congratz!

[ChrisNoF4i]

Sorry, when I said 'you', I meant you as a family. Whoever claims the kid as a dependent is also elible for the Child Tax Credit.

[HBerry]

I know very little about this subject, but I know my former boss, who is not married to the mother of his children, switched dependencies every year for their 3 kids. I would suggest getting a Tax attorney or a certified financial advisor for this stuff.

[Proulx06]

"If you live with your single partner, you may also claim "head of household" filing status if you support a dependent, which allows you to take the earned income credit if your income is under the threshold, and allows you to take child and dependent care credits."

Looks like either of you could take that...I would recommend the higher income taking it, but I'm still doing some research...

[Proulx06]

From http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/obje...AA5BB7290BBED1

"Can both unmarried parents claim their child on their separate tax returns?

Taxes affect unmarried people with children much in the same way they do divorced partners -- only one person can claim the child as a dependent. This doesn't mean that only one parent is entitled to claim the child, just that only one person can legally take the exemption. How to decide who gets the tax break? That's easy. The parent whose income is in the higher tax bracket will get a bigger tax savings. Parents can agree in advance, and in writing if they prefer, on how to split the return."

[ChrisNoF4i]

Originally posted by Proulx06
"If you live with your single partner, you may also claim "head of household" filing status if you support a dependent, which allows you to take the earned income credit if your income is under the threshold, and allows you to take child and dependent care credits."

Looks like either of you could take that...I would recommend the higher income taking it, but I'm still doing some research...

Looks like your research came up short...

"In order to qualify for head of household status, a taxpayer must not be married at the close of the tax year. In addition, the taxpayer must maintain as his home a household which, for more than one-half of the tax year, is the principal place of abode of a dependent child."

In summation; have your girl file SINGLE, claim the kid as a dependent and claim the Child Tax Credit. End of story.

[Proulx06]

Well, that's why I'm not an accountant yet...