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!
Hi Tax Advisor,
My husband is active duty and we are trying to figure out how to claim my mother as a dependent to meet military housing regulations.
She meets all the requirements, except for the income from her pension, which comes to $5,000 a year. She does not own a home or vehicle and is otherwise completely dependent on my husband and I. She has been living with us since she retired two years ago.
Is there any way around the $3,800 requirement? Her pension alone cannot cover her basic living and medical needs.
Thanks for your time.
Hi Sarah,
Unfortunately, all requirements must be met and pension income is included in the gross income amount. The only other option would be to contact her pension provider and see if they have any new insight.
Have been claiming my mother as a dependent she died May 31, 2014, will I be able to claim her on income tax for 2014.
Hi Kathy,
If the dependent died during the year and they otherwise met the dependency tests, you may still claim them as a dependent in the year they died for the entire year.
Hi,
I’m a USA citizen and trying to bring my parents here in New York ,my question is what kind of benifits they can get ? My parents they are about 60 years old and they cant speak english
Hi Beyay,
The benefits that your parents are eligible to receive depends on many different factors. You may want to look into if that qualify for Social Security benefits, AARP or retirement benefits (just to name a few).
Hi I have a question that might sound dumb but it happened to me days ago. I was waiting for my check that I was going to recieve from my taxes and well I got a letter saying that I owed money, but the funny part is that it says I owe from 2007 and in that year I was 13 yes old I find it ridiculous please help me understand this it’s also my first time filing taxes I’m 20 yes old now thank you
Hi Alex,
This typically happens when you forget or choose not to file prior year taxes but do file for the current year. However, since you were only thirteen years old at the time that they are claiming you owe money for (and I am assuming that you were not employed then), I suggest contacting the IRS to get this straightened out.
My mom is currently fighting for disability benefits. She is not receiving her benefits yet because she has to go to court and appeal the disability decision . She has doctors that say she is disabled and proof from the doctors that she is disabled. Can I claim her as a disabled parent on my taxes because of the proof from the doctor. Or do I have to wait until she gets her disability from ssi?
Hi Ashley,
Since you have proof from her physician, you may want to take a look into completing a Schedule R:Form 1040A or 1040.