My mother is a green card holder and makes abour $4500 A YEAR (no, I did not miss a zero). Does she need to declare taxes? She has been receiving this money for 3 years now and we had no idea we could

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
August 4, 2020
2 replies
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not add her as a dependent with this income, since it wasn't even enough to pay for her health insurance. Would we get in trouble if we start declaring her as a dependent now? What should we do?

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rjs

Level 15

You cannot claim your mother as a dependent because her income exceeds the limit, as you have found out. You will get in trouble if you claim her when you are not entitled to.

If all her income is from a job where she gets a W-2, she is not required to file a tax return. If she has $400 or more of self-employment income (1099-MISC, or no form, or just cash) she does have to file a tax return. She can use the calculator at the following link on the IRS web site to see if she has to file a tax return.

Do I Need to File a Tax Return?

A green card holder is treated the same as a U.S. citizen for income tax purposes. She is considered a resident alien.