My boyfriend and I live together, and have the last 4 years. I have 2 children from a previous marriage. I am custodial parent who claims them. I am divorced, and was receiving child support (up until last month). My boyfriend and I have 1 child together. We ALL live together, all year. He works full time, and supports us all, and I stay at home for now. What should he be claiming for dependents on w4? Can he claim me and my 2 kids as dependents, along with our son together? without being married, and file as HOH? We want to know the best way to file. Would getting married and file jointly the best option? or can we still maximize our refund without getting married? We live in MI.

My boyfriend and I live together, and have the last 4 years. I have 2 children from a previous marriage. I am custodial parent who claims them. I am divorced, and was receiving child support (up until last month). My boyfriend and I have 1 child together. We ALL live together, all year. He works full time, and supports us all, and I stay at home for now. What should he be claiming for dependents on w4? ==========>>>>>>>Your bf can claim anything you want on his W-4. His tax return is an entirely different story, however. Your bf can't claim you /you kids as dependents aslongas you makes far too much money. The income limit for a "qualifying non- relative" is $3.9K for 2013.


Can he claim me and my 2 kids as dependents, along with our son together?======>>>Yes aslongas he meets the requirements(i.e,
You and your children, not his child but from prev marriage, must live with him for the entire year as a member of his household/he must provide more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.)your( or each of your children’s) gross income needs to be less than $3.9K for 2013.If so, he may file his return as HOH by claiming his qualifying child as his dependent and also he caN claim all of you, your children on his return UNLESS you file your return (if you file your return just for refund, then he can claim you and your kids form prev marriage)and claim your children and the child between him on your return(or unless you give form 8332 to your former spouse). This filing status benefits from a higher standard deduction and lower tax rates than those who are just "single" filers



without being married, and file as HOH? =>Yes as mentioned above. Since the child between you and your bf is his qualifying child, as he meets other requirements, he can file his return as HOH.

We want to know the best way to file. Would getting married and file jointly the best option? or can we still maximize our refund without getting married? We live in MI.==>>>>UNLESS you get married, you guys are NOT subject to MFJ/MFS. So unless you file your return as single and claim your children and the one between him as your dependents, he can file his return as HOH by claiming the kid between you as his qualifying child; he can never claim the kids from your pre marriage as his qualifying children/qualifying relatives to claim them for his HOH status as they are not his qualifying children unless he adopted them.