Head of household with no dependents

[warrenag]

Couple are not married and have three children under 12. Can the father, who pays the majority of the home expenses claim head of household and not claim the children as dependents, while the mother claims single, claims all three children as dependents, thus qualifying for EIC & ACTC. I can nothing that says this cannot be done but don't want to jeopardize her EIC/ACTC claim if there some ruling stating that this is no allowed.

[kathyc2]

You can not use the same qualifying child for HOH and EIC. Father could claim 1 qualifying child to qualify as HOH. Mother could use other 2 children for EIC. There probably wouldn't be a difference in total for CTC, so to simplify, have father claim same one he uses for HOH.

[warrenag]

Thank you. I suspected this was the case but wanted a second opinion.