<prompt> Human: Hey all. Coming upon tax season, I have had a question that I havent been able to find a concrete answer for searching online actually have found conflicting answers. Basically, my significant other and I had our first child in February of 2015. We are unmarried. She is a stay at home mom who works occasionally and brings home less than 10k gross with random promotional jobs. I have a steady 40 HR per week job and make approx 70k a year. We live in a single family house that I own and pay the mortgage for. I pay most of the bills for the house, she contributes to the gas and electricity bills. Now I was wondering in this case, which one of us would be getting the biggest return for claiming our child? Some sites say because I have the higher income I should claim her, but others say that since she is technically a single mother she will get a biggest credit. Not that either of us will be keeping all of the money, of course... We just want to make sure we get the most from our return as possible. Thanks in advance! We live in Massachusetts if that matters.Assistant: OP, I worked out your scenarios very roughly using the TaxCaster web page.I see two options that you are probably contemplating. One is for her to claim the child, and one is for you to claim the child.Ill presume at first that you didnt pay anyone for child care.If she claims the childYou file as Single with no dependent. Tax: -10725.She files as Single with one dependent. Refund: 4359Overall result: -6366She gets the Child Tax Credit and a big Earned Income Tax Credit for one dependent, based on her extremely low income. She cant file as Head of Household because she didnt pay the expenses of maintaining a household, so she files as Single. You cant file as Head of Household because you wouldnt have a qualifying person, so you file as Single.If you claim the childYou file as Head of Household with one dependent. Tax: -6516She files as Single with no dependent. Refund: 367Overall result: -6149She gets a small Earned Income Tax Credit even though she has no dependents, because of her low income. You get to file as Head of Household because you paid the expenses of maintaining a household, you are unmarried, and you have a qualifying person. This gives you a higher standard deduction 9250 instead of 6300. You also get the Child Tax credit 1000. You dont get the Earned Income Tax Credit because your income is too high. But nonetheless, your claiming the kid works out a little better.Its about a 217 better deal for you to use that second option.If you also paid child care expensesIf you paid 3000 in child care expenses, then theres an additional 600 credit youd get. In that case, using the second approach would be about 817 better than the first approach because youd also have the Child and Dependent Care tax credit. If GF claimed the kid, she wouldnt get the Child and Dependent Care tax credit even if she paid 3000 in child care expenses because her income tax is already 0 and the credit is not a refundable credit, so shed need to have tax liability to reduce in order to make use of it.The sites you consulted mentioning that shed get a bigger credit if she claims the child are correct, but what you want to look at is what the overall result is. You want the total overall amount of tax the two of you pay to be minimized. Id recommend the second approach, where you use the Head of Household filing status.P.S. If GF is under 25 and not eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, then it becomes a no-brainer for you to claim the child. It would be far more expensive over 3000 more expensive for you as a couple for her to claim the child in that case.Human: Wow!! Thank you so much for such an in depth and detailed answer! We are both 28, so she would qualify for that credit. What youre saying does make sense, and I had a feeling that it would work out better if I claimed the baby. As I mentioned, its all basically shared money anyway; we just wanted to get the best return possible.Thanks everyone who replied and took the time out of your day to help out!!!Edit: we have no child care expenses as a result of her being a stay at home mom, so that would be a non-factor.  <response>: Youre welcome. Double check with your actual figures. Also, this will be your first time filing as Head of Household instead of Single -- so be sure you check box 4 on Form 1040, not box 1. And look out for the bigger standard deduction in the margin on page 2.marginGood luck!---Here are questions to ask to confirm you are Head of Household, drawn from VITA training materials in IRS Publication 4012 page B-2.Were you married on December 31 of the tax year? NOSo you cannot file as married filing jointly or married filing separately.Did your spouse die in 2013 or 2014? NOSo you cannot file as widower with dependent child.Do all of the following apply? YES You paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the year. A qualifying person lived with you in your home for more than 12 the year.Your filing status is Head of Household. Your SO answers NO to that last question because of not paying more than half the cost of keeping up the home. Her filing status is Single. 