Can I Claim My Girlfriend or Boyfriend as a Dependent (1440 × 600 px)

Can I Claim My Girlfriend or Boyfriend as a Dependent?

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Under tax reform, you can no longer claim a dependent exemption beginning with tax year 2018, but you still need to know who qualifies as your dependent for other tax benefits like the  Other Dependent Credit worth up to $500 for dependents who are considered non-child dependents. 

Are you living with your girlfriend or boyfriend? Have you ever wondered whether or not you could claim him or her on your tax return as a dependent? Like many things in life, it depends. Even if it feels like an awkward thing to wonder, it’s worth the ask.

A boyfriend or girlfriend can be claimed as a dependent if they pass some of the same tests used to determine if your child or relative can be claimed as a dependent.

First, your significant other cannot be claimed as a dependent if they are eligible to be claimed as a dependent on another tax return. Whether your boyfriend or girlfriend is being claimed is irrelevant, it’s the eligibility that matters. Once you see the rules, especially the residency, and support rules, this will make perfect sense. So, if your significant other’s parents could claim him or her, you cannot. Your significant other also must be a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

If he or she passes those rules, these four “tests” will also need to be passed to qualify as a dependent. He or she:

  1. Is not a “qualifying child” of a taxpayer. The IRS has specific qualifying child rules based on relationship, age, residency, and joint return
  2. Earned less than $4,700 in taxable income in 2023
  3. Did not provide their own support. You must provide more than half of their total support for the year
  4. Lived with you all year as a member of your household (keep in mind: dependent relatives do not have to live with you)

As you can see, the tests make it impossible for someone to be claimed as a dependent on two returns. Either you provided their support or someone else did.

If you and your significant other are living together and considering this route, there are also other ways you can save a lot of money by integrating your finances, without getting married. For example, you could combine auto insurance policies for a multi-car discount. It might not be as romantic as getting married, but it could result in big savings over the course of a year!

Don’t worry about knowing these tax rules. No matter what moves you made last year, TurboTax will make them count on your taxes. Whether you want to do your taxes yourself or have a TurboTax expert file for you, we’ll make sure you get every dollar you deserve and your biggest possible refund – guaranteed. 

23 responses to “Can I Claim My Girlfriend or Boyfriend as a Dependent?”

    • Hello Bre,

      The requirements for claiming someone other than a relative as a Dependent and get the new “Other Dependent Credit” are:
      You may qualify to claim others as a dependent if:

      1. You provide more than half of the total support for the year. Support from you includes food, housing, medical expenses, clothing and other essentials.
      2. The person you are claiming does not have income that exceeds $4,150 for 2018; that amount does not include any Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits they are receiving.
      3. To claim a parent or anyone as a dependent, they must not be eligible or claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return.
      4. The qualifying dependent must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident alien.

      Finally, the relationship between you and the dependent can not violate the law. For example, your dependent cannot still be married to someone else and you claim them.

      Make sure to check your individual state law, as some states do not allow you to claim a boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent even if your relationship doesn’t violate the law.

      Thank you

  1. I have tried to get an answer to a tax question from Turbo tax for 2 weeks now and I have yet to receive a response. I have been a Turbo tax user for 8 years but you can consider me a disgruntled former customer now!.

  2. I was wondering if I can claim her as a dependent. She has not worked for a couple years now. I pay for all her expenses. Clothes, Food, Shelter, etc…. you name it. we moved in together right before she started going together. I also pay for her school too. Books, school lunch, etc. financial aid doesn’t cover everything her tuition is almost double since she is an out of state student. but we now live together after a year her tuition should go down. but she does not work and like I said I take care of all her financial expense. she will be turning 21 in January of 2019. we’ve been together for 3 years now. I just need to know I can claim her????

  3. Can I claim my girlfriend even though she only made $4,900. we also have a daughter. I need to know if we can file taxes together.

    • Hi John,
      Unfortunately your girlfriend could not make more than $4,050 for 2016 in order to claim her. You may be able to claim your daughter as long as she didn’t provide over half of her own support, must live with you more than half the year, and no one else can claim her. TurboTax will ask you simple questions about your dependents and give you the tax deductions and credits you’re eligible for.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

  4. Hi my boyfriend owes back taxes and has not had a job in 3 years due to a serious medical condition.If I claim him as a dependent on my taxes can they take part of my return to satisfy his tax debt? Thanks so much !!! Besides this he “passes” the test for the deduction.

  5. My boyfriend has lived with me for over 3 + years and hasn’t worked in quite some time. Would I be able to claim him as a dependent?

  6. I had a job from Dec 02 2025 and they let me go Jan 7 2016. This is my first job and first time worrying about taxes. Can my boyfriend put me as a dependent even though I had a job? And if he is able to, do I still need to do taxes? Sorry, I’m new to this.

    • Hi Darlene,
      Your boyfriend may be able to claim you if:
      – You lived with him the entire year
      – You did not earn more than $4,000
      – You did not provide over half of your own support.

      If these tests are met then your boyfriend may be able to claim you. You will need to file your taxes if you made over $10,300, but if he does claim you, you will not be able to take the dependent exemption. TurboTax will walk you through filing your taxes.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

      • Hi my boyfriend and I live together and he “passes” the test for me to claim him as a dependent, but because of a serious injury he has not worked in 3 years and has an outstanding tax debt ( less than 10k ) if I claim him as a dependent can the IRS garnish my tax return to satisfy his debt? Thank you so much!!

  7. My son works a part time job and wants to file his own taxes this year (hes 18 years old) can I still claim him as I provided more than half of his support. If not, how do I claim his wages?

    • Hi,
      You would not be able to claim him if he files and takes his personal exemption of $4,000. If he doesn’t take his personal exemption and files his taxes you can still claim him as a dependent. You would just need to confirm whether or not you are going to claim him, because only one of you can take the exemption. Once you decide, TurboTax will help you get the deductions and credits you are eligible for.
      Thank you,
      Lisa Greene-Lewis

  8. I would like to point out how hard it is to do this. I have been a stay at home mom to our youngest son since he was born three years ago. The first year I didn’t have income to claim we tried claiming me as a dependent since we have been living together for years and at that point he was supporting me. Instead we got auditted. It was a mess. They even tried to say he didn’t have the right to claim our kids. They said we had to prove he supported us that year by providing grocery reciepts, rent receits, and medical statements. It took us over a year to get those returns and he still couldn’t claim me because I didn’t have any of those things. It took appealing three times just to be able to claim the kids. So despite the fact that I am his dependent we will never do that again.

    • Social security income IS taxable. You’d better check it out before deciding that it’s not, and before deciding what to do.

  9. If your boyfriend or girlfriend meets these requirements and you can claim them as a dependent, then can you claim head of household?

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