Assuming that you have two kids together and that you all live together and that you both have income and that you aren't married then you can each claim one of the children or one of you can claim both, as long as you both agree to the arrangement.
The IRS website says if the parents are unmarried (single in the eyes of the IRS), and the child is living with them equal amounts of time for the year, whichever parent has the higher AGI will claim the child.
If you file as married filing separate, you still have to coordinate a bit with your spouse. While you include only your own income, deductions, exemptions and tax credits, you still have to include your spouse's information, including Social Security Number or Taxpayer ID.
Per IRS rules, since you are not married, each of you can only claim the mortgage interest and property taxes that you actually paid yourself.
According to the IRS dependent rules, your boyfriend or girlfriend must have earned less than $5,050 for the 2024 tax year if you want to claim them as a dependent. If your partner earned more than the limit, they have essentially earned enough to prove to the IRS that they can care for themselves financially.
Married Filing Separately
If you and your spouse file separate returns, you should each report only your own income, deductions, and credits on your individual return. You can file a separate return even if only one of you had income. Community or separate income.
If you were legally married or an RDP as of the last day of the year, you can only be eligible for head of household filing status if you were ending your relationship and lived apart from your spouse/RDP at all times during the last six months of the year.
You can claim a child as a dependent if he or she is your qualifying child. Generally, the child is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year.
In a 50/50 custody arrangement, the IRS generally allows the child tax credit and other child-related tax benefits to the parent who has the child for more than half the year.
There are extensive IRS rules around who can claim a child as a dependent. The rules for a qualifying child dependent are: The relationship test: The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child, or eligible foster child—or descendant (for example, a grandchild or great-grandchild).
What's the penalty for filing as head of household while married? There's no tax penalty for filing as head of household while you're married. But you could be subject to a failure-to-pay penalty of any amount that results from using the other filing status.
When an unmarried couple cohabitates, both partners will need to file an individual tax return at the end of the year. Unmarried couples may not file a joint tax return.
Married filing separately with kids
When filing separately, only one parent can claim a qualifying child and the tax breaks that follow. Generally, the parent who provides the child's housing for most of the tax year gets to claim the child and the tax breaks.
The Head of Household filing status provides a higher standard deduction and, generally, a lower tax rate than Single or Married Filing Separately.
To file as head of household, you must pass three tests: the filing status test, the qualifying person test, and the cost of keeping up a home test.
Being not legally separated but living apart means that you and your partner are still married on paper. If someone asks you about your relationship status, it would be that you're married. However, you will be living apart from your spouse.
You usually must be married to file together. However, if you are non-married but want to file a joint return, it is possible you can use married filing jointly if you're considered married under a common law marriage recognized by either of these: The state where you live. The state where the common-law marriage began.
The "married filing separately" status doesn't come with any tax penalties but you might miss out on some tax breaks and end up with higher taxes. Don't assume filing jointly is always the best option. Carefully consider how either status will affect your tax situation and do the math before you choose.
You can't take the earned income credit. You can't take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses in most cases. You can't take the education credits (the American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credit), the deduction for student loan interest, or the deduction for tuition and fees.
There are several situations in which a couple should file separately. These include divorce or separation, issues with liability, the repayment of student loans, or different pay scales.
You may qualify for Head of Household filing status if you meet the following three tests: Marriage Test, Qualifying Person Test, and Cost of Keeping up a Home Test.
Widows often receive less income but will be pushed to higher tax brackets. In addition to higher tax rates, widows lose half the standard deduction as a single filer, increasing their tax bill as a result.