Only one taxpayer may claim the child as a qualifying child for purposes of filing as head of household. Also, a taxpayer filing as head of household must furnish over half the cost of maintaining the household. Therefore, both parents may not file as head of household. For more information, please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for more information.

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Tax Topic 353, What is your Filing Status?

Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filling Information, for more information.

A dependency exemption may only be claimed on one return. Since your son is a qualifying child for both of you, you and your wife can decide who will claim the child. If you cannot agree on who will claim him refer to Tie-Breaker Rule in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filling Information,

References:

• Form 2120 (PDF), Multiple Support Declaration
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

Since your children lived with you for the greater part of the year, you are considered the custodial parent and you are the parent who is eligible to claim them as dependents on your tax return if the other dependency tests are met. Your husband is the non-custodial parent and would only be able to claim the children if you release your claim to the exemption by completing Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, or signing a substantially similar statement. Please be aware that if you release your claim to the dependency exemption for a child, you may not claim a Child Tax Credit for that child.

Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information or Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals, for more information on the special rule for children of divorced or separated parents.

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
• Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

In order to qualify for the earned income credit, your filing status cannot be married filing separately. If you are married, you usually must file a joint return to claim the earned income credit.

However, if you are married and your spouse did not live in your home at any time during the last 6 months of the year, you may be able to file as head of household. In that case, you may be able to claim the earned income credit.

Please refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for a complete discussion of the earned income credit. Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for the head of household filing status rules.

References:

• Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit

If the child is a qualifying child of both parents, they may choose which one will claim the credit. If there are two qualifying children, each parent may claim the credit on the basis of one of the children or one parent may claim the credit on the basis of both children. If both actually claim the credit on the basis of the same child, the parent who is entitled to the credit is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the tax year, or the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the year.

Refer to Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, for full discussion of the earned income credit rules.

References:

• Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit