Sometimes we’re so busy growing up that we forget they’re growing old.
Everyone knows that claiming a dependent on your income tax return can get you a significantly larger refund. For every dependent you claim on your taxes you can claim an extra personal exemption. That’s a large chunk of change you can deduct from your income, thus reducing your tax burden.
But who exactly can you claim? Are you eligible to claim your parents as dependents?
When it comes to taxes there are actually two different types of dependents: qualifying children and qualifying relatives.
Obviously, you can’t claim your parents as qualifying children. So the question becomes, do they meet the requirements for qualifying relatives?
Is your parent a qualifying relative for tax purposes?
In order to claim someone as a qualifying relative they must:
- Have lived with you all year as a member of your household, or be one of the following family members: child, parent, sibling, stepparent, stepchild, step-sibling, half sibling, grandparent, grandchild, child-in-law, parent-in-law, sibling-in-law, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew
- Be a U.S. citizen or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico
- Be unmarried, or married but not filing a joint return
- Not be a qualifying child of you or someone else
- Have a gross income of less than $4,000
- Have more than half of their total support for the year provided by you
In plain English, this means that yes you can claim a parent as a dependent but they have to meet the above requirements.
Are Social Security Benefits included?
As a general rule, Social Security benefits are not included in gross income. For more information about Social Security and Disability benefits, check out our other article, “Claiming Parents as Dependents If They Receive Social Security Benefits“. Be sure to make sure they are tax-exempt, because this could determine your eligibility to claim them as a dependent.
When determining if you provided over 50% of a parent’s total support, be sure to consider
- lodging
- food expenses
- utilities
- repairs
- household expenses
- clothing
- education
- medical and dental expenses
- travel
- recreation expenses
If you support a parent who meets all of the requirements listed above be sure to claim them when you file online this season!
Hello,
I am Canadian citizen currently working in US, i have 2 questions:
– What kind of income i need to report to IRA, before tax or after tax? ( my income is in USD)
– I have a dependent dad in Canada, i pay for his daily expense ( food, house, utilities…) Can i claim him as my dependent when i file my income tax?
thanks
Unfortunately we do not support or specialize in returns containing foreign information, foreign residents, and/or foreign income. Therefore we will not be able to answer your question. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Hello,
My question is, both my parents live with me. My mom has annual income of $9K a year from her part-time job. My dad has SSA income of $8K a year. Can I claim my dad as a dependent, granting they both file married/separate? I do pay more than half of his medical expenses as well as other costs.
Thank you in advance.
You definitely will not be able to claim your mother as a dependent on your return since her gross income is over $4050. I recommend using the IRS Interactive Tax Assistant to determine which dependents you can claim on your return based on your tax situation.
hello. I have a question involving a different matter. But see that you respond quickly. My boyfriend and I and his 2 daughters
have lived with his uncle and his wife for 2yrs now. We both have been unemployed during this time due to personal reasons and me having a baby in 2016. We let his uncles wife claim the 2 girls last year since she was the that provided the cost of living, transportation, clothing for school, utilities, gas food ext. for the whole yr. Everything came back fine when taxes came. This year we did the same of course but added our newborn as well. But now we are being audited. When she filed she filed the children as “Qualified Relative. Our problem is that were not sure how to prove residency for the children and us. We never changed the addresses do to the fact if we did the kids would have had to change school districts and was not an option since they were already comfortable in there schools. What can we do to prove our residency at there home? Also since we did not work but lived there as well, she still has the right to claim them correct? We plan on going to our local IRS office this Tuesday but any help that can help us better prepare to show prove is greatly appreciated. I know they have listings of what works and what doesn’t but every situation is different.
Some documentations that the IRS will ask to to provide will be photocopies of school records (no report cards), medical, childcare provider (the provider cannot be a relative) or social service records. You also have the choice to send in an official letterhead from an institution or agency that shows the name of your child’s guardian along with the address and dates that they lived at the home.
Hello,
My brother claims our mom as his dependent as she lives with him all year. Mom babysits my children on occasion. I pay her for helping me. Last year I paid her $2500. Her only other income is SSI. So there are two questions that I have after researching this situation:
1. Since it is under $4,000 earned income, does my brother have to claim that money that I paid mom as income on his tax return?
2. Can I claim the Child Care Credit with the $2500 that I paid my mother for watching my children?
Thanks in advance for your reply.
If your mother provided the child care services from her home, you should have issued her a 1099-MISC so that she can report this income as self employment income. She can also opt to report her business income as cash. If she works in your home, you can put your mom on your payroll and issue her a W-2. Or you can set up a FSA account at work where you set aside money for child care expenses. This money can be deducted from your paycheck before taxes. You can then claim your child care expenses on your return. If you spent more than the benefits withheld on your W-2, you will be able to get a dependent care credit for your out of pocket child care expenses .
Your brother can claim your mother as his dependent once she meets the IRS qualifying dependent parent tests. One of the tests is that her gross income must bot be greater than $4050. Please be aware this amount does not include SSI.
Hello
My question is. I have moved in to help my mother with,her expenses. She is on ssi and is disabled. I cover at least 50 percent of her stuff. I want to know if i claim her as a,dependant will it effect her benefits. Her food benefits and medical assisstance.
Hi Daniel,
This may not affect your additional benefits. To make sure, I suggest contacting her provider. You can also take a look at our other blog that may go into more depth about your specific situation, “Claiming Parents as Dependents If They Receive Social Security Benefits”.