You and your wife may file either a joint return or separate returns. If you and your wife file separate returns, your filing status would be married filing separately. Your wife may qualify for head of household status. 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
• Publication 504 , Divorced or Separated Individuals

Only the person who paid more that half the cost of keeping up a home for the year would qualify for the head of household filing status. If both people paid exactly the same amount, neither would qualify for the head of household filing status. 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

You must obtain a signed Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents, or a substantially similar statement.

References:

• 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

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

A dependency exemption may only be claimed on one return. Since neither you nor your wife contributed more than half of your son's support, one of you can still claim dependency exemption for your son only if the other spouse provides a written declaration that he or she will not claim the child as a dependent for that year. Form 2120 (PDF), Multiple Support Declaration, can be used for this purpose

References:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
• Form 2120 (PDF), Multiple Support Declaration
• Tax Topic 354, Dependents

For children of divorced or separated parents, generally, the custodial parent is treated as the parent who provided more than half of the child's support. This parent is usually allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the other exemption tests are met. However, the noncustodial parent may be treated as the parent who provided more than half of the child's support if certain conditions are met. This parent is usually allowed to claim the exemption for the child if the other exemption tests are met. However, the noncustodial parent may be treated as the parent who provided more than half of the child's support if the custodial parent releases his or her 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, Exemption, 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:

• Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
• Publication 596, Earned Income Credit
• Tax Topic 601, Earned income tax credit (EIC)

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. If both actually claim the credit on the basis of the same child or children, the parent who is entitled to the credit is the parent with whom the child lived for the longest 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:

• Publication 596, Earned Income Credit
• Tax Topic 601, Earned income tax credit (EIC)

You will have met the substantial presence test and will be taxed as a resident alien for last year, while your husband is likely to be a nonresident alien. Refer to Tax Topic 851 for an explanation of the relevant tax forms. You may file a joint tax return if your husband makes the choice to be treated as a resident for the entire year. Generally, however, you cannot claim tax treaty benefits as a resident alien. Please refer to Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens , for detailed instructions on making this choice.

References:

• Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
• Tax Topic 851Resident and Nonresident Aliens