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!
my mom just became permanent resident this year. can i claim her as a dependent for the last 3 years?
Thanks
Hi Ali,
There are certain rules to claiming someone as a dependent. I suggest taking a look at the IRS tool for who you can claim.
Hi my dad has been living with me but he can work his disabled from bad arm an elbow he does not get social or any type of
income can i still claim him???????
I meant he can not work???
Hi Becca,
There are requirements that need to be met for claiming a dependent. I suggest taking a look at the IRS website page addressing these requirements.
My mother is 67 and her income is 5000 of social security and i provide all of hr support can she be my dependent
Hi Willet,
As stated in the article, there are specific requirements for claiming someone as your dependent. I suggest taking a look at the IRS website page that provides you with these requirements.
My mom (in her 90s) has been staying with us since Aug and will be staying with us for good. We send her to an Elderly Day Care while we work and it costs about $1K per month. Based on what I’ve read, we meet all the requirements except her legal status. Her green card is being filed, can we claim her as our dependent while waiting for her green card. Also, what other services can she use once she becomes our dependent?
Hi Esther,
According to the IRS, all requirements must be met to claim a dependent. However, I do suggest contacting the IRS directly since as explained above, you are waiting for the green card to process. The IRS may take something like that on a case-by-case basis.
Hello, my son sends to my personal livelihood, every month for the Brazil U$ 950 through Western Union. He is in California and my question is: He will have problems with the IRS in the USA?
Hi Renato,
I suggest contacting the IRS with this specific situation. They should be able to point you in the right direction.