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!
Good morning,
My father lives with me and has lived with me since 2010, he is on disability and receives about $600 a month. Can he be claimed as a qualifying relative
Hi Toja,
You can claim your father as a qualifying relative as long as the following are met.
1. He is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico for part of the year.
2. He has no more than $3,900 gross income (except nontaxable Social Security benefits) in 2013.
3. He receives more than half his or her support from you.
4. He is not claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer or filing a joint tax return.
Can my brother and I claim my parents on our tax return? Or it can only be per single tax holder?
Thank you,
Hi Kemal,
No you both can’t. You can claim one parent and he can claim the other.
Hi,
My daughter is 20 years old and an unmarried, full-time student. I am wondering if we can claim her as a dependent.
She made $1,400 last year, took out $5000 in loans, received $3,000 in grants & scholarships and her grandmother gave her $9,600 (mostly from an EdVest account her grandmother opened years ago).
Thank you!
Hi Karen,
Yes, you can claim your daughter who is in college as a qualifying child dependent until she is 23. You can claim her as long as she is a full-time student for at least five months out of the tax year, and as long as she does not provide more than half of her own financial support for the year. If you claim an exemption for her, she can not claim an exemption for herself.
Hi. My mom lived with me 6+ months in 2013 and receives ss disability and has zero other income. If I claim her as a dependent, will her amount of ss benefits decrease?
Hi Crystal,
No, you claiming her as a dependent will not affect her ss benefits.
My mother lives with me and I pay 100% of her household expenses (mortgage/utilities/etc) so it appears I can claim her as a dependent. However, she also files taxes and I don’t want to claim her if it will affect her refund. Do you know if it will reduce the amount of her refund if I claim her? Thank you.
Hi Brandy,
Yes, it will effect her refund if you claim her as a dependent.