dependent

[095489487]

What is the name of your state? new york
My son and his girlfriend have been living together for 2 years. She has a daughter from a previous relationship. My son provides for 100% of daughter's expenses including daycare. Can he claim her as a dependent on his 2002 taxes this year and can he take her childcare expenses as a deduction?

[abezon]

Yes. He claims the child as a fosterchild dependent for 2001, and for 2002 if the child resides with him until 12/31/2002. He also claims head of household filing status. If his girlfriend has income below $2900 in 2001, he can claim the girlfriend as a dependent for that year also. He cannot claim the child for earned income credit in 2001, since the child is not related to him, nor was she placed in his home by a state agency. If the mother had earned income of $1-2900, he should see if it's better to claim the gf as a dependent, or to let the gf file a return as 'single' and claim the EIC.

Your son should file a 1040X for 2001 to amend his filing status, dependents, and to claim the child tax credit and the child care credit. He can't claim the child for 2000 because the child did not live with him the entire year.

This assumes that the mother does not have a divorce decree specifying that the father gets to claim the child.

Only an "Eligible foster child" as described below can qualify for the child tax credit:

Eligible foster child. An eligible foster child is any child you cared for as your own and who is:

1. Your brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or
2. A descendent (such as a child) of your brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or
3. A child placed with you by an authorized placement agency.
In addition, the child must have lived with you for all of 2001.

Also, the girlfriend can only be claimed as a dependent if the relationship does not violate local law. In other words, are there any city, county, or state laws against co-habitation?

[abezon]

Actually, Roamer, that's the definition of Eligible Foster Child used for the earned income credit. A "foster child" for the child tax credit is the same as for a dependent: a child treated as the taxpayer's own child who lived with the taxpayer for the entire year. Since the child tax credit goes to whoever claims the child as a dependent, the 'placed by a state agency' requirement is not necessary to claim the child tax credit.

Thus, an unmarried couple can file with the higher-income person claiming head of household status and claiming the child as a dependent (getting the child tax credit and dependent care credit), and the lower-income person can file as single and claim the child for EIC purposes only. (Assuming the lower-income person is the one related to the child)


Also, laws that forbid cohabitation between consenting adults are pretty much unconstitutional (violate the right to privacy), so our caller can claim his gf as a dependent. Now if the gf were underage, *that* would violate the law and prevent T from claiming her as a dependent.

The defiinition for Eligible foster child on my previous reply was from Pub 17, Chapter 35 - Child Tax Credit; Qualifying Child. The 1040 instructions for Line 6c, Column 4 (check box for child tax credit) says the same thing.

Based on that, the only person who can claim the child tax credit would be the girlfriend and only if she claims the child as a dependent.