Hi, my fiance and I (a US citizen) have been engaged for a few years and she lived in the Philippines while I lived and worked in the US. We have a son that is now 6 yrs old. He was born in the Philippines (US citizen by birth) and lived with his mom until 2 months ago when they finally came here. My fiance and I got married last week, they both live with me now.

Up until now I've always filed my taxes as Single with no dependents, even though I supported my wife-to-be and child 100% while they were overseas. I never really thought about claiming my child on my tax forms, because I didn't think I would be qualified, given that my child lives overseas and had no SSN... but a friend of mine suggested for me to look into it.

So my question is, would I be qualified to get some kind of tax refund or credit covering the 6 years that he lived abroad? If so, how should I go about filing the paperwork? Thanks.

Hi, my fiance and I (a US citizen) have been engaged for a few years and she lived in the Philippines while I lived and worked in the US. We have a son that is now 6 yrs old. He was born in the Philippines (US citizen by birth) and lived with his mom until 2 months ago when they finally came here. My fiance and I got married last week, they both live with me now.

Up until now I've always filed my taxes as Single with no dependents, even though I supported my wife-to-be and child 100% while they were overseas. I never really thought about claiming my child on my tax forms, because I didn't think I would be qualified, given that my child lives overseas and had no SSN... but a friend of mine suggested for me to look into it.

So my question is, would I be qualified to get some kind of tax refund or credit covering the 6 years that he lived abroad?=======>>Aslongas you meet the IRS requirements then yes; since your child lives overseas and you live in the US, your child can't possibly be in your custody. That's physically impossible. So you can not claim the child as your qualifying child;
in general, to claim your child as your qualifying child yor child must live in the US, Canada or Mexico AND you must be able to prove that you provide more than half of her total support for the year. If you meet that test and she does not have an SSN or ITIN, you'd attach a completed Form W-7 and attach it and proof of her ID to the first return that you file and mail the entire package to the address on the W-7. Your child must complete the W-7 herself if she's old enough to do so. A parent or legal guardian can complete it for her if she's unable to it herself due to age or disability.So as the child did not live with you for more than half year in the US, You would be claiming her under the Qualifying Relative rule so CANNOT file as Head of Household, or claim any other tax benefits other than the dependent exemption. The Child Tax Credit, EIC, Additional Child Tax Credit, etc. are all off of the table.

If so, how should I go about filing the paperwork?==========>>As mentioned above; you need to attach stmt with which you would have to show that you paid more than half of the child's total support AND that the child is either a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico