Can I claim my sister and her kids? She's married but I still provide for most of her expenses. She also just recently started working but earns very little.

[VolvoGirl]

Does she live with you?

[Carl]

married person can not be claimed as a dependent on any tax return. There are some exceptions, but not if she files jointly, or if she has more than $4050 of reportable income in the tax year and is over the age of 23 (or over the age of 19 if not a full time student) then you can not claim her.

[miggs13008]

Well her husband isn't working and won't be filing for taxes. They aren't planning to file at all. (Mainly because they didn't have an income for most of the year) and yea she lives with me and her kids too and her husband.

[SweetieJean]

"She also just recently started working but earns very little." is not the same as no income at all.  Any unemployment comp, public assistance, etc?

[miggs13008]

Nope nothing else, I've paid for more than half of their needs, and she just started working, but she doesn't get paid much not enough to make more then 3000$ by the end of the year

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

It's possible you can claim them, but unlikely, if the husband has income. It's complicated. 

You can't claim them if they did not live with you for more than half the year (that's an over simplification of the rule, but that's usually the outcome)

You can not claim them if she had more than $4050 of income on her own. If she lives in a community property state, some of her spouse's income counts as hers.

You can't claim her if she files a joint return with her spouse. This effectively means the husband has to agree to file as Married filing separately, to let you claim her.

You cannot claim the kids if they lived with their father,  for more than half the year, and he is required to file a tax return.

[VolvoGirl]

You might be able to claim the husband too if he lived with you the whole year and had less than $4,050 total income in 2017 (4,000 for 2016).  Are you asking 2016 or 2017 returns?

[Hal_Al]

If both the sister and her husband have less than $4050 (each) of income and lived with you most of the year, and you provided  more than half the support for the family, you can claim them all.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.
.A child closely related to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:
1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or  is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support
3. He lived with the relative (including temporary absences) for more than half the year
4. He is younger than the relative (not applicable for a disabled child)
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child (this essentially means that you have the parent’s permission to claim the child, if the child also lived with the parent more than half the year)
6. If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any of the child's parents who can claim the child.
A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:
1. Closely Related  (a brother-in-law is considered closely related, as are siblings and nieces & nephews) OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,050 (2016)
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support
In either case:
4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer
He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)