US tax questons

[seraf]

I have always done my taxes online and I may ask them soon but I have some queer specific questions.

Sperm?  Do you write it off as a medical expense?  What about shipping?

Dependents?  Has anyone claimed a partner as a dependent?  

We filled out everything and it looked like we got back a fair bit more if I claim my partner as a dependent but we weren't sure if she was still supposed to file.

What about families where the children are legally related to different parents?  Does one file head of household or do both?  If we are legally roommates, that would mean separate families?  

Sure would be simpler if they recognized our families. 

[prettyisa]

Hmm...well, I know the answer to the sperm one, at least! If you are itemizing your deductions, and your medical expenses came to more than 7.5% you can include sperm as a medical expense. The full list is here: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/index.html. A note to everyone--apparently after December of this year the amount will go up to 10% of your total income, which sucks. Probably not on shipping, but I'd be inclined to give it a try anyway.

As for claiming Sara--my guess is that she made too much money last year. You probably need to follow up more than on this article, but here's a start:
http://taxes.about.com/od/dependents/a/Dependents_4.htm (if you go back to page 2 it lays out the rules for claiming her as a relative and says that she had to make less than $3700 gross for 2011). If she made less than that you can claim her and she doesn't have to file herself, to my knowledge.

And thirdly, since i'm on About anyway, only the legal parent can claim the kiddos for you this year:
http://taxes.about.com/od/dependents/a/Dependents_2.htm. I have ZERO idea what happens next year if Sara can be your dependent who gets to claim the new baby--it could be that you can since they're both dependent on you, but since I'm not a tax professional, I wouldn't necessarily listen to me. For 2011, though, it's at least pretty clear.

[seraf]

For the number on dependents I saw 3 different tables with 3 different numbers. 3700 is the one we are using tho. She barely made more than that so that question is answered. Of course, I only had one try in 2011, but if I claimed what I spent on her sperm and all our doctor, dentist and prenatal appointments it's pretty well above 7.5%. 

I think she would get more next year if she claimed the baby she's carrying. I'm thinking I can claim him as a dependent but not get the child tax credit. But she could do both. Hell if I know. That one doesn't have to be answered until next year since the rules will probably change somewhat. 

Thanks for taking the time to answer. 

[prettyisa]

no problem--we're just hiring an accountant because my taxes have gotten really complicated lately. Incidentally, I don't think you can count any of her doctor, dentist, or prenatal stuff in your medical category unless she's your dependent. I don't know if you'd get caught, but having been audited before I can tell you that it's not fun.

[seraf]

Yeah I won't claim her expenses unless I claimed her. I'm happy to pay the right amount of taxes. 

Im thinking next year we will have them done professionally because it will be more complex next year. 

[justrose13]

just jumping in to say that my DP is claiming HOH, all my med expenses and hers; I'm claiming myself and the baby. we went to a tax specialist and this is how it works out to get the most back. note: she could have claimed S, since she is a legal guardian, she also could have claimed me as a dependent but it works best this way.

[seraf]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[southernfriedkarma]

We hired an accountant because DP is a contractor and can deduct any number of random things, but our accountant said yes to sperm shipping for the purpose of insemination (not shipping if you were just sending to another storage facility, etc).  And to mileage to and from the doc and parking fees at the doc.  We can also deduct sperm storage fees during the time that we needed to store it at the RE's office to have it available while trying but not storage fees for sperm that we're saving for next time.  

I don't know about all the dependent questions since all that doesn't apply to us.  

[prettyisa]

Thanks, SFK! The shipping is going to be a huge boost to me! (as is the parking--those suckers at my RE's office really know what they're doing to get the fees out of you, but I love them all the same).