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Skip To Main Content. Why claim someone as a dependent? Dependent rules also apply to other benefits: such as the Earned Income Tax Credit the Child and Dependent Care Credit for daycare expenses medical expenses , various other itemized deductions and most tax credits that involve children or family issues Qualifying for these benefits can spell the difference between owing money and receiving a refund. Who qualifies as a dependent?
Are they a citizen or resident? The person must be a U. Many people wonder if they can claim a foreign-exchange student who temporarily lives with them. The answer is maybe, but only if they meet this requirement. Claiming a Parent As a Dependent March 6th, There are five tests to determine whether you can claim a parent as a dependent: The person you are claiming as a dependent must be related to you.
This shouldn't be a problem if you are claiming a parent in-laws and stepparents are also allowed. Keep in mind, however, that foster parents do not count as a relative. To claim a foster parent, he or she must live with you for a year as a member of your household. Your parent must be a citizen or resident of the United States or a resident of Canada or Mexico. Your parent must not file a joint return.
If your parent is married, he or she must file separately. There is an exception if your parent is filing jointly, but has no tax liability. If your parent files a joint tax return solely to get a refund, you can claim him or her as a dependent. Gross income does not include Social Security payments or other tax-exempt income. You must provide more than half of the support for your parent during the year. Support includes amounts spent to provide food, lodging, clothing, education, medical and dental care, recreation, transportation, and similar necessities.
Even if you do not pay more than half your parent's total support for the year, you may still be able to claim your parent as a dependent if you pay more than 10 percent of your parent's support for the year, and, with others, collectively contribute to more than half of your parent's support.
To receive the exemption, all those supporting your parent must agree on and sign the applicable Multiple Support Declaration Form Read more. Children Conceived After a Parent's Death Are Challenging Estate Plans and Laws Advances in fertility treatments and the storage of embryos and sperm mean that children can be born long after a parent has You lived with the taxpayer for more than half a year there are some exceptions You are under 19 at the end of the tax year or are under 24 and a full-time student at least five months or are permanently and totally disabled You did not provide more than one-half of your own support in the tax year You are a U.
Qualifying Relative A lot of people wonder if you can claim adults as dependents. Additionally, all these criteria must be met: The person who might claim you provided more than half of your total financial support.
You are a U. You are unmarried, file using the married filing separately filing status, or file a joint tax return with a spouse but the return is filed only to claim a full refund of all taxes paid and neither spouse would have a tax liability if separate returns were filed. Final Thoughts Most importantly: make sure to discuss your dependency status with your parents before filing your tax return so everyone is on the same page.
Section Deduction Limits Can you claim your new vehicle under Section deduction limits? Tax Deductions - Standard Meal Allowance When can you take a meal allowance as part of business travel deductions? No matter how you file, Block has your back. File with a tax pro File online. In addition to your birth child or an adopted child, your foster child, siblings, half-siblings and step-siblings along with all the siblings' descendants can be qualifying children.
And your son-in-law, mother-in-law, parents, grandparents and in-laws could all be qualifying relatives. A person doesn't even need to be a relative to count as a qualifying relative. A girlfriend, boyfriend or roommate could be your dependent as long as the person is a member of your household for the entire year and meets all the other requirements. The IRS' Publication 17 , chapter 3, has a complete list of which relationships can qualify someone as a child or relative for dependent purposes.
In addition to the relationship requirement, the qualifying child or qualifying relative has to pass a series of "tests. The rules for who can claim a qualifying child can get fairly complex when both parents can claim the child as a dependent but they aren't married, or they file their tax returns using the married filing separately status. Some parents switch off, letting one person claim the child one year and the other parent claim the child the next.
The IRS also has an official series of tiebreaker rules see page 30 of Publication 17 to determine who can claim the child if you can't come to an amicable agreement. If working through all the tests sound like too much work, you could also try the IRS' interactive tool , which can help you determine if you can claim someone as a dependent.
Whether you're claiming a child or relative as a dependent, let the tax season also be a reminder about the importance of keeping your personal information secure. Unfortunately, identity theft and the tax season can go hand-in-hand, as thieves may try and claim your tax refund for themselves.
Some scammers may even go after children's personal information and attempt to take out a loan or open a credit card in the child's name. Experian offers a credit report check for minors that lets you see if your child has an Experian credit file. If one is found, that could be an indication of identity theft. If you don't find anything, that's a good thing. But you can still take proactive preventive measures by freezing your child's credit file for free, which can help prevent someone from using your child's identity to open an account.
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