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laurenlianne · Jan 30, 2009, 07:38 PM

I have raised my boyfriends children since they were babies when their "Egg Donor" walked out on them. I have paid over 90% of the kids expenses due to their father losing his job early last year. I can legally claim them as dependents under the "non-relative dependent" status, but I don't get to claim the EIC or the child tax credit without them being "blood" relatives. It's a substantial difference between the return I would get if I could claim those credits and not. Would I automatically get audited if I claimed I was the children's aunt, instead of UN-related. There is nobody else that would claim them, and I pay all my taxes like a good citizen. Please help as I hate to do something illegal, yet it's so unfair that the $8,000 I paid in childcare this year is just "Gone" (the credit I get for that is only $673!), only because I didn't give birth to them. Yet if I were the blood relative, I could get all these extra credits!

MukatA · Jan 31, 2009, 07:35 AM

Yes, IRS computers automatically check these things. You are not eligible for Earned Income Credit or Child Tax Credit.
Also if the children are qualifying children of your b/f, you can not claim them. It is not required that b/f paid more than half of the support.
Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Requirements for claiming a dependent

AtlantaTaxExpert · Feb 2, 2009, 11:42 AM

What MukatA says is completely true. It's too late for 2008 to claim either the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Credit, UNLESS your state recognizes your co-habitation situation as a common-law marriage. You need to check that out with your local court house.

But I have a simple solution to claim these credits for 2009: Marry the kids' father!