Tax Tips So Dependent On You: Who Can I Claim as a Dependents on my 2009 Tax Return? Read the Article Open Share Drawer Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Written by TurboTaxBlogTeam Published Mar 29, 2010 - [Updated Jun 12, 2019] 5 min read Over the past few years, questions around who can claim who and why has dramatically changed. There are more blended families in the U.S. The economy has taken a toll on our bottom lines resulting in three or four generations of families living together to save money. And yes, even non-family members moving in with each other to save a buck. So how do those changes affect your tax situation? Can you claim your girlfriend on your taxes? What about your son who lives with your mother? And of course, pets. Can you claim Buster the beagle on your taxes? I sat down with Lee Ferris, one of our in-house tax experts and asked her those same questions. The question and answer session aims to explain some of the more common dependent questions so you can get your biggest refund possible. Question: Can someone claim their girlfriend or boyfriend on their taxes? Answer: If your girlfriend has lived with you for all of 2009, her gross income is less than $3,650, and you’ve provided more than half of her total support (which is room board, food, car, insurance, etc.), you could claim her as a dependent on your tax return. To determine if you pay for more than half of her support, see IRS Pub 501 page 20. Each dependent you claim on your 2009 tax return reduces your taxable income by up to $3,650. Question: What if we have a child, can I claim the baby also? Answer: If the baby is your child, lived with you for more than half the year, and can’t support itself, you can claim the child as your dependent. And I know you are thinking, ‘Of course my baby can’t support itself.’ This was a-recent change by the IRS and a good example is if you have a child that is an actor. That child might be receiving a decent income and that counts as supporting itself. But for all those parents with non-actor children out there, you can claim a child under the age of 19. If the child is a full-time student then you can claim them until the age of 24. If they are 25, working on their master’s degree and not earning any income you might be able to claim what the IRS calls a “qualified relative.” I would recommend visiting the IRS link to get more info on what defines the qualified relative and qualified child. Question: My sister lives with me, and she receives Social Security Disability Benefits. If I charge her rent – which gets paid with social security – can I claim her as a dependent on my tax return? Answer: If you are providing more than half of her total support (taking into consideration the rent she’s paying you) and she doesn’t make more than $3,650 a year, you can most likely claim her. Remember her social security isn’t counted as gross income. Look at the IRS worksheet in pub 501 to get more information on this. Question: Can I claim any of my pets? What if they require special needs? Answer: No. But I have been reading about a bill in Congress that is making the rounds that allows people to deduct pet medical expenses up to $3,500. The bill is proposed by Republican Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan. I am not sure what will happen with this but it is worth paying attention to. Q: My parents just moved in with us so that we can take care of them. Can I claim them? Answer: This is a common question right now because of the economy. If they are living with you, their only source of income is social security, and you are supporting them by more than 50 percent, you can claim them as a qualified relative. Remember, social security doesn’t count towards their gross income. Also, remember that since they are qualified relatives, they don’t have to live with you. You could be supporting them in their own home and still claim them as dependents. Question: Can I still claim my spouse even though she received unemployment the majority of the year? Answer: Even if your spouse is a stay-at-home mom, you can’t claim her as a dependent. This is why I encourage you to file a joint return. That way you get $3,650 for you and $3,650 for your spouse as a write-off – also known as an exemption. So 99 percent of the time it is more beneficial to file jointly because of that write-off amount and other deductions and credits. However, one of my top questions this year is “Is unemployment taxable?” And the answer is, the first $2,400 of unemployment is NOT taxable. If both spouses receive unemployment benefits during 2009, each may exclude from taxable income the first $2,400 of benefits they received. Question: I have been supporting my grandchild for the past six months and paid for everything. Do I claim her or does my daughter? Answer: It depends. There are some questions you need to answer first. Will the father claim the child on his return? Is your daughter going to claim the child? If the child has lived with you for more than six months, both the father and your daughter are not going to claim the child , then yes, you can probably claim your granddaughter as a qualified child and get the various child credits on your tax return. Question: Can I claim my niece if she is here on a student visa, going to college, and living with us? She makes no money here, pays no rent to us and we support all her expenses, except for tuition. Answer: In this case, if she is under 24 and a full-time student and she’s not a qualifying child for anyone else, you can probably claim her as a dependent. But I like to urge people to please ensure that someone else is not already claiming the person in question as a dependent. Your niece can’t be claimed more than once. Also you can only claim the niece as a dependent if she’s a U.S citizen, U.S. resident, U.S. National, or resident of Canada or Mexico. For questions we haven’t covered, please check out the IRS.gov page. The site has updated sample situations to help U.S. filers. Check out this TurboTax video as well: http://www.youtube.com/v/sbD8BfZzs8s?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 Previous Post Hot Tax Topics: Filing an Extension, Paying Your Tax Bill Next Post What are Personal Property Taxes? Written by TurboTaxBlogTeam More from TurboTaxBlogTeam 227 responses to “So Dependent On You: Who Can I Claim as a Dependents on my 2009 Tax Return?” « Older Comments Newer Comments » can you claim your grandchildren if you helped support them 7 months and they are on hoosier healthwise as their insurance and their mother is getting food stamps Reply we have a similar situation, our daughter and her 2 childern(our grandkids) have been living here for three years, although she,,,to coing a phrase…’stuck it to us’ the last two years,,as in claiming herself, and the kids. This year(2013),,,or,,for tax years 2012 i should say, WE took the deduction,,not only for the grandkids,,but our daughter,,and wear and tear that the kids performned on our houshold. Not to mention the non-custodial parent, i.e, their biological father, hasn’ paid a shred in child suporrt. We have also written off everything we purchased for the kids over the last year,,,clothing,,even meals/food. Reply Hi Dan – If you meet the criteria to clam the children, you can mail in your return and have it reviewed by the IRS. Although, it won’t be fun for anyone. The IRS will do the final determination, but, in most cases side with the biological parent. And, this link may help as well for information about dependents: Who is a Dependent? http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/About-your-Dependents/Who-Is-A-Dependent-/GEN12426.html Thanks, Karen The father of my nieces and nephews has been unemployed for the past year and collecting disability. The children are at my house 50% of the time and with him 50% of the time as thier mother (my unemployed sister) lives with me and has been for the past 7 months. I have been the financial provider for my sister and the children for the past 7 months, can their father claim them as dependents even though he has not worked in 2012? Reply I’m a stay at home spouse, with no children. Should my husband file claiming me as a dependent or do I need to file as well even though I do not work (nor do I receive unemployment). He’s currently deployed and will be filing his taxes on TurboTax online this year. Thanks! Reply Hi Shawn- I am assuming you meant her biological father can claim her. Unfortunately, under the IRS tie-breaking rules, the biological parent has priority when claiming a dependent. If he agrees to give up the dependency exemption, then you can claim her (via your wife/her mother). Barb Reply Can I claim my step-daughter if she lived with me for over 6 months of the year and I provided primary support for her even though a parenting plan states that her biological daughter can claim her every year as long as his child support is paid in full? Reply Nice post. I was watching continuously this site and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck. Reply Both my sons and I lived with my mother for all of 2012. I received unemployment for the first 4 months of the year and was a full time student the last half of the year. My mother is going to be claiming both my children since she provided the financial support. Can she also claim me ? I am 33 if that matters Reply Hi Nicole, Your mother can claim you as along as: – She provided over half of your support – You did not earn over $3,800 in taxable income. This would include your unemployment income. – You are a US citizen, national, resident of Mexico or Canada Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply My daughter is 17 and has always lived with me now she has a baby born oct 1 2012 and also has lived with me. Can I claim the baby on my taxes? Reply Hello, My grand-son was born 03/27/2012 and has lived with us legally (by court order) since 6/19/2012. We also had him 18 days prior to the court order. My question is can we claim him on our taxes? We have received no child support and have paid 100% of his expenses including daycare. I ask because I know his father will try to claim him even though he has not supported him at all. Thank you, Ann Reply I want to add that the reason I’m confused is because he was born in March and did not live with us half the year. We will have had him for almost 6 month (approx 1 day short of 6 months) although he only lived with his parents for 2.5 months. Reply I have 5 nieces that live with me. Ages 13 to 3 yrs old. I have supported them 100% neither the father (my brother) nor the mother helps me financially to take care of my nieces. They got spearated and decided to go on with thier lives without their children. Now the mother calls and tells me she wants to claim 2 of her kids on her tax, I told her No because I have claimed them this year and she says she does’nt care she will claim them because she is the mother. The mother lives a Utah and my nieces and I are living in California and my brother lives in California as well with his new wife in a different resident. Who will get in trouble if we both file? Reply « Older Comments Newer Comments » Leave a ReplyCancel reply Browse Related Articles Tax Tips Can I Claim My Girlfriend As a Dependent on My Taxes? Family Child Tax Benefits: How Parents Can Save on Taxes Tax Deductions and Credits Multigenerational Families: Top Family Tax Deductions and Credits You Should Not Miss Tax Deductions and Credits 12 Ways to Save on Taxes Through Life’s Transitions Tax Tips Divorce & Taxes 101: Filing Taxes After a Divorce Family Can I Claim My Parent as a Dependent? Family What Is a Dependent? An Introductory Guide to Dependents Tax Tips Who Can I Claim as a Dependent for This Tax Year? Tax Deductions and Credits Have Your Pi and Eat it Too: Five Mistakes to Avoid and Boost Your Tax Refunds Deductions and Credits Who Counts as a Dependent for Taxes?
can you claim your grandchildren if you helped support them 7 months and they are on hoosier healthwise as their insurance and their mother is getting food stamps Reply
we have a similar situation, our daughter and her 2 childern(our grandkids) have been living here for three years, although she,,,to coing a phrase…’stuck it to us’ the last two years,,as in claiming herself, and the kids. This year(2013),,,or,,for tax years 2012 i should say, WE took the deduction,,not only for the grandkids,,but our daughter,,and wear and tear that the kids performned on our houshold. Not to mention the non-custodial parent, i.e, their biological father, hasn’ paid a shred in child suporrt. We have also written off everything we purchased for the kids over the last year,,,clothing,,even meals/food. Reply
Hi Dan – If you meet the criteria to clam the children, you can mail in your return and have it reviewed by the IRS. Although, it won’t be fun for anyone. The IRS will do the final determination, but, in most cases side with the biological parent. And, this link may help as well for information about dependents: Who is a Dependent? http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/iq/About-your-Dependents/Who-Is-A-Dependent-/GEN12426.html Thanks, Karen
The father of my nieces and nephews has been unemployed for the past year and collecting disability. The children are at my house 50% of the time and with him 50% of the time as thier mother (my unemployed sister) lives with me and has been for the past 7 months. I have been the financial provider for my sister and the children for the past 7 months, can their father claim them as dependents even though he has not worked in 2012? Reply
I’m a stay at home spouse, with no children. Should my husband file claiming me as a dependent or do I need to file as well even though I do not work (nor do I receive unemployment). He’s currently deployed and will be filing his taxes on TurboTax online this year. Thanks! Reply
Hi Shawn- I am assuming you meant her biological father can claim her. Unfortunately, under the IRS tie-breaking rules, the biological parent has priority when claiming a dependent. If he agrees to give up the dependency exemption, then you can claim her (via your wife/her mother). Barb Reply
Can I claim my step-daughter if she lived with me for over 6 months of the year and I provided primary support for her even though a parenting plan states that her biological daughter can claim her every year as long as his child support is paid in full? Reply
Nice post. I was watching continuously this site and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time. Thank you and best of luck. Reply
Both my sons and I lived with my mother for all of 2012. I received unemployment for the first 4 months of the year and was a full time student the last half of the year. My mother is going to be claiming both my children since she provided the financial support. Can she also claim me ? I am 33 if that matters Reply
Hi Nicole, Your mother can claim you as along as: – She provided over half of your support – You did not earn over $3,800 in taxable income. This would include your unemployment income. – You are a US citizen, national, resident of Mexico or Canada Thank you, Lisa Greene-Lewis Reply
My daughter is 17 and has always lived with me now she has a baby born oct 1 2012 and also has lived with me. Can I claim the baby on my taxes? Reply
Hello, My grand-son was born 03/27/2012 and has lived with us legally (by court order) since 6/19/2012. We also had him 18 days prior to the court order. My question is can we claim him on our taxes? We have received no child support and have paid 100% of his expenses including daycare. I ask because I know his father will try to claim him even though he has not supported him at all. Thank you, Ann Reply
I want to add that the reason I’m confused is because he was born in March and did not live with us half the year. We will have had him for almost 6 month (approx 1 day short of 6 months) although he only lived with his parents for 2.5 months. Reply
I have 5 nieces that live with me. Ages 13 to 3 yrs old. I have supported them 100% neither the father (my brother) nor the mother helps me financially to take care of my nieces. They got spearated and decided to go on with thier lives without their children. Now the mother calls and tells me she wants to claim 2 of her kids on her tax, I told her No because I have claimed them this year and she says she does’nt care she will claim them because she is the mother. The mother lives a Utah and my nieces and I are living in California and my brother lives in California as well with his new wife in a different resident. Who will get in trouble if we both file? Reply