It Tax season again....
February 2, 2007 7:34 AM Subscribe
If I am married and filing separately, can we both claim our daughter for the $3,300 dependent exempiton?
I am working on turbotax and looking at the differences of married filing joint or separate and how it would change our refund. Doing taxes is really not my strong point....
When filing out Personal and Dependent exemptions when filing separately Turbotax is letting me claim myself and my daughter on my return, and then on my husbands return allowing him to claim himself and our daughter as well.
Should only one of us be able to claim her on the exemptions when filing separately or can we both? And does the state you live in make a difference? I'm in MN. I don't want to fill this out incorrectly, and leave myself screaming for an audit or an unwanted tax bill.
I am working on turbotax and looking at the differences of married filing joint or separate and how it would change our refund. Doing taxes is really not my strong point....
When filing out Personal and Dependent exemptions when filing separately Turbotax is letting me claim myself and my daughter on my return, and then on my husbands return allowing him to claim himself and our daughter as well.
Should only one of us be able to claim her on the exemptions when filing separately or can we both? And does the state you live in make a difference? I'm in MN. I don't want to fill this out incorrectly, and leave myself screaming for an audit or an unwanted tax bill.
A dependent can only be claimed by one person. I know this because I was not able to claim myself (standard exemption) when I did taxes in college, because I was still on my family's insurance.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 7:45 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by JeremiahBritt at 7:45 AM on February 2, 2007
Response by poster: That is what I figured...I wonder why turbotax doesn't put any kind of warning flags about that at all?
Would it make more sense for my husband to claim her who makes way less than I do, or myself who makes more and also has the mortgage tax deduction for the house?
posted by Gooney at 7:49 AM on February 2, 2007
Would it make more sense for my husband to claim her who makes way less than I do, or myself who makes more and also has the mortgage tax deduction for the house?
posted by Gooney at 7:49 AM on February 2, 2007
IRS 1040 instructions, p. 21: "If the child is a qualifying [i.e., meets the criteria to be considered a dependent, listed on p. 19] child of more than one person, only one person can claim the child as a qualifying child for all of the following tax benefits, unless the special rule for Children of divorced or separated parents beginning on page 20 applies. 1. Dependency exemption..."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:51 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:51 AM on February 2, 2007
Would it make more sense for my husband to claim her who makes way less than I do, or myself who makes more and also has the mortgage tax deduction for the house?
The canonical answer is "try it both ways and see." But most likely, it's better for whoever is in the higher tax bracket to claim her, as that will reduce your tax burden more.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:53 AM on February 2, 2007
The canonical answer is "try it both ways and see." But most likely, it's better for whoever is in the higher tax bracket to claim her, as that will reduce your tax burden more.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:53 AM on February 2, 2007
As has been repeatedly stated in the many recent tax filing for married people questions, filing separately makes sense only in the most tortured of scenarios (e.g., spouses are separated and cannot cooperate, one spouse thinks the other is a tax cheat, etc.) and even then it is generally used for non-tax reasons. Under normal circumstances, it will never yield a lower total tax bill for the marital community.
See this link for a short, plain-English examination of the topic: http://taxes.about.com/od/filingstatus/qt/marriedseparate.htm.
IAATL, but I am not your lawyer. The foregoing is not tax advice and may not be used to avoid tax penalties.
posted by dbolll at 10:40 AM on February 2, 2007
See this link for a short, plain-English examination of the topic: http://taxes.about.com/od/filingstatus/qt/marriedseparate.htm.
IAATL, but I am not your lawyer. The foregoing is not tax advice and may not be used to avoid tax penalties.
posted by dbolll at 10:40 AM on February 2, 2007
Would it make more sense for my husband to claim her who makes way less than I do, or myself who makes more and also has the mortgage tax deduction for the house?
IF you file separately, which probably won't be the best option for you (because it will 1)probably result in paying more tax and 2)probably be more complex/difficult) then whoever has the highest taxable income should claim her as a dependent.
Also, IANAA or a lawyer but I'm not sure there's any situation where both of you would be able to deduct the exact same thing (where you only spent the money once, I mean. So you couldn't both deduct the mortgage, but if you had two separate mortgages then that wouldn't be deducting the same thing twice)).
posted by sleeplessunderwater at 2:59 PM on February 2, 2007
IF you file separately, which probably won't be the best option for you (because it will 1)probably result in paying more tax and 2)probably be more complex/difficult) then whoever has the highest taxable income should claim her as a dependent.
Also, IANAA or a lawyer but I'm not sure there's any situation where both of you would be able to deduct the exact same thing (where you only spent the money once, I mean. So you couldn't both deduct the mortgage, but if you had two separate mortgages then that wouldn't be deducting the same thing twice)).
posted by sleeplessunderwater at 2:59 PM on February 2, 2007
Depends.
What's your stance on cloning?
posted by oxford blue at 9:28 PM on February 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
What's your stance on cloning?
posted by oxford blue at 9:28 PM on February 2, 2007 [1 favorite]
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posted by crazycanuck at 7:44 AM on February 2, 2007