<p>My husband and I are separated and will be filing our 2008 income taxes separately. He has the higher income by far, so he will take the kids as exemptions and will take all the deductions. The kids live with me >50% of the time, so I am filling out the FAFSA with my income information. Is there a problem with the disparity between the number of exemptions (1) I report on my taxes vs family size (4) I report on the FAFSA?</p>
<p>No. It doesn’t matter who takes the exemptions, as long as only one of you does it! Don’t laugh - I just ran across a married couple with both filing as head of household & both claiming the same exemptions. For the record, folks, it’s not okay to do that! :)</p>
<p>The test for FAFSA is the parent with whom the student lives at least 50% of the time. If other children live with you, include them in the household size, too. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to report child support, if you receive it.</p>