can my father claim my child as his dependant when i claimed him for EIC?

katie g: can my father claim my child as his dependant when i claimed him for EIC?
I found out from here that if I claim my son through EIC and my father cannot claim him as his dependant (we live in the same house and my son is on his insurance). What will happen if I filed for EIC but didn’t claim my son as my dependant? Then no one claims him as a dependant? My father says he HAS to claim him cause it’s the only way he will stay on his insurance.

Answers and Views:

Answer by bostonianinmo
If your father claims your son, you don’t get the EIC. The ONLY way that you can claim the EIC without claiming your son as your dependent is if the child’s other parent claims him.

Your father may or may not be entitled to claim your son. There’s not enough information to say. However if YOU claim your son, your father may not. And if your father claims YOU as his dependent then you may not claim your son.

If there’s a choice in the matter you should weigh the value of the insurance coverage vs the lost EIC. You probalby can’t buy coverage for the child for what you’d get from the EIC so it would make MUCH more sense for your father to claim your child if he’s eligible to do so.

Answer by Lisa J
Here is a site to find out. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eitc2007/showqualifyingchildtips.do

Answer by Judy
Bostonianinmo’s answer is correct and detailed – yet once again someone has given a thumbs down. Weird.