Can I claim my child who has a job and is filing his/her own tax return?

Can I claim my grandchild (niece, brother, etc.) as a dependent?

Can I claim my parent, adult child, grandparent, aunt, or other adult relative as a dependent?

Can I claim my fiance (girlfriend, boyfriend, or any unrelated person) as a dependent?

Can I claim my fiance's (girlfriend's or boyfriend's) kids as dependents on my tax return?

The Child Care Credit allows you to receive a credit for expenses that you had to send your child to daycare so that you could work outside the home. If you're married, then both you and your spouse would need to have a job outside the home.

Don't include your child's income on your tax return. Your child's income is reported on a separate tax return, if necessary. Very few children need to file a tax return because their income isn't high enough to be required to file a tax return. Review the Form 1040 instructions to see if your child needs to file a tax return.

If you made any home improvements such as new doors, windows, insulation, roof, solar energy systems, wind energy systems, geothermal heat pump, or fuel cells that improved the energy efficiency of your home, you may qualify for the Home Energy Credit.

Homeowners can usually itemize their deductions and get a bigger refund than by using the Standard Deduction. Did you enter your mortgage interest, property taxes, and mortgage insurance on your old returns? If not, you probably can get a bigger refund by claiming those home expenses as Itemized Deductions.

Be sure to enter the college tuition for you and your dependents. It doesn't matter who paid for the college tuition or if the tuition was paid for through student loans. You're eligible to claim a college tuition credit or deduction if the tuition expenses are for you or your dependents.

If your college-aged child filed his or her own tax return and claimed their own exemption, then the college tuition is claimed on your child's tax return. But if you're claiming your child as a dependent, then you should claim the college tuition on your tax return. It's almost always better for the parent to claim the child as a dependent and claim the college tuition on the parent's tax return. The child rarely has enough income to get much benefit from the education credits.

Also, if neither the child nor the parent have enough income to get the full benefit of the American Opportunity Credit, the parent will get a refundable American Opportunity Credit that increases their refund. The child will usually get nothing on their tax return because a student age 23 or younger rarely qualifies for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit. It's almost always better overall for a college-aged student (age 23 or younger) not to claim their own exemption when the student files his or her own tax return and to let the parent claim the child as a dependent and claim the education credit on the parent's return.

Click the link to find out what types of income are NOT taxable.

What types of income are NOT taxable?

Make sure you included every business-related expense on your Schedule C. Every dollar of expense reduces not only your regular income tax but also your self-employment tax if your business is profitable.

So scour through your checkbook and records to make sure you've included every business expense you can.

• Did you remember to claim your automobile expenses or standard mileage deduction for business miles driven?
• Did you claim any tax preparation fees or other types of professional fees related to your business that you paid during the year?
• Did you include any meals and entertainment expenses for business-related visits, such as a business discussion with a customer before attending a baseball game?

Keep in mind that changing your business income can affect the Earned Income Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. Depending on your income, it could increase those credits or decrease them. So finding additional business expenses will usually increase your refund, but there are scenarios where it might decrease your refund if it significantly affects your Earned Income Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit. However, it can also increase those refundable credits depending on how much income you have.

Interest paid on a loan to purchase a boat or an RV is deductible as mortgage interest expense if the boat or RV is considered your primary home or secondary home. The boat or RV must have cooking, toilet, and sleeping facilities.

Were your debts more than your assets at the time your debt was canceled? If so, your canceled debt shouldn't be shown as income on your tax return. Most people who do short sales of their homes or have their credit card balances reduced or canceled do have more debts than assets and don't need to report most or all of the canceled debt as income.

If you traveled more than 100 miles from home to perform services as a National Guard or reserve member, you can deduct any unreimbursed travel expenses for those services.

Let's look for ways to increase your Itemized Deductions by looking at some commonly missed deductions:

• Did you remember to include any cash you put into the offering plate at church?
• Did you include any out-of-pocket expenses for volunteer work such as buying lunch, staying in hotels, and car expenses?
• Did you donate clothing, furniture, or other items to a charitable organization, such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army?

Other Itemized Deductions that are often forgotten include state and local taxes you paid:

• Did you pay state or local taxes that you owed on your previous year tax return?
• Did you make a 4th quarter state or local estimated tax payment?
• Did you file an old state tax return during the year and pay state taxes owed on the old return?

If you itemize your deductions, you can deduct your gambling losses to the extent of your gambling income.

For example, if you report $5,000 in gambling income on your W-2G, you can deduct up to $5,000 of your gambling losses. If you use the Standard Deduction instead of Itemized Deductions, gambling losses can't be deducted.

If you took the Standard Deduction on your previous federal tax return, your state tax refund from the previous year is NOT taxable and should not be reported as income on Form 1040, Line 10.

If you moved at least 50 miles away for your work, you may be able to deduct your expenses from the move. Moving expenses include amounts paid for transportation and storage of household goods and personal property. They also include the amount that you paid for travel and lodging expenses.

Based on your answers, we don't have any recommendations for increasing your refund. You can still create a free account on FreeTaxUSA and enter your information to see if your refund increases.