Janitor Bob Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Unmarried clients live together all of 2014 with their child. He made $49,000. She made $21,000. EIC will not help him, but will get her a large refund. Can they decide who gets to claim the child for HOH/EITC/CTC or does it need to be him since (based on incomes) he likely provided more than half the support for the household? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 File both single and give the child and all the goodies to the mother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Bob Posted February 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 That's what I did...thanks for affirming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NECPA in NEBRASKA Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I just had the same situation, but because the mother only had $4,000 of earned income and another child that was not his, it works better for him to take the baby and her to take her older child. He won't get EITC, but he will at least get the entire CTC, daycare and head of household. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) Tie-Breaker Rules Under the tie-breaker rule, the child is treated as a qualifying child only by: The parents if they file a joint return; The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent; The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together. The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together; The person with the highest AGI if no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child; or A person with the higher AGI than any parent who can also claim the child as a qualifying child but does not. If he is the father, only he can claim the EIC because he has the higher income. If he is not the father, she can claim it if she chooses. Edit: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Qualifying-Child-of-More-Than-One-Person Edited February 6, 2015 by jmdaviscpa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) The tiebreaker rules come into play if two people try to claim one child; the IRS steps in to break the tie. If the parents living together cooperate, which I would expect since they're both parents and living together, you can work it out to the best benefit of the whole household staying within the law. Pacun's way works. However, did she (maybe via a joint checking account) pay half the upkeep of the house? It is possible for her to be HOH if the housing costs aren't expensive. You see their whole picture. Run the numbers every way you can think of. Do a housing spreadsheet. Also, some planning for 2015 is an opportunity for you to help them pay the lowest legal tax liability. Edited February 6, 2015 by Lion EA 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Yes, Rita L is correct, right above the tiebreaker rules: "If they cannot agree who will claim the child as a qualifying child, and more than one person actually claims tax benefits using the same child, the tie-breaker rules (explained below) apply." 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Why did you stop pasting? I am pasting the next paragraph.., "If another person uses your qualifying child to claim EITC using the tie breaker rule, you can claim EITC only if you have another qualifying child. You cannot take the credit using the rules for those with no qualifying child." IF IF IF IF is a big word. IN ANY EVENT, you cannot say that the father is the one with the information provided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) I want to add something: Why not many people participated on my sample? This is exactly the issue I addressed and I added 5 more siblings to the puzzle. When earned income is involved, I put the whole family together in my office and I tell them.... if this person claims the child, you will loose the battle, now if these other people claim the child, you will win. Edited February 6, 2015 by Pacun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Why did you stop pasting? Hey, I'm not greedy. Left you some room there. I want to add something: Why not many people participated on my sample? This is exactly the issue I addressed and I added 5 more siblings to the puzzle. I can't think past two siblings. Are you kidding? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I want to add something: Why not many people participated on my sample? This is exactly the issue I addressed and I added 5 more siblings to the puzzle. When earned income is involved, I put the whole family together in my office and I tell them.... if this person claims the child, you will loose the battle, now if these other people claim the child, you will win. When people are busy with actual returns, and someone posts a complex 'sample' problem, you are not going to get a lot of responses. Especially that one, which had so many factors and weird $ amounts, IMHO. Made my head hurt just reading it. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Normal Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 Jut found this: Example 11—unmarried parents. You, your 5-year-old son, and your son's father lived together all year. You and your son's father are not married. Your son is a qualifying child of both you and his father because he meets the relationship, age, residency, and joint return tests for both you and his father. Your earned income and AGI are $12,000, and your son's father's earned income and AGI are $14,000. Neither of you had any other income. Your son's father agrees to let you treat the child as a qualifying child. This means, if your son's father does not claim your son as a qualifying child for the EIC or any of the other tax benefits listed earlier, you can claim him as a qualifying child for the EIC and any of the other tax benefits listed earlier for which you qualify. I don't do a lot of EIC returns so it's not an area of expertise. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RitaB Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 I don't do a lot of EIC returns so it's not an area of expertise. It's a horrible mess, and I'm surprised when I understand anything about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted February 6, 2015 Report Share Posted February 6, 2015 It's a horrible mess, and I'm surprised when I understand anything about it. I agree. lol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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