Sponsored parents for green card, are they considered dependents necessarily for tax purposes?

[tarc79]

I sponsored my elderly parents on their green card application(I-130). I wonder if this means that they have to be shown as dependents on my tax return. If they filed on their own, they would not pay any taxes as their income is small and it is already being taxed overseas ( no double taxation due to tax agreement between the US and our home country for government pensions). I would rather not show them as dependents, because it may complicate my return unnecessarily and increase my gross income. But, of course, I want to go with the proper way. One last note is that they have received their EAC (authorization for employment), but not the actual green card just yet (they will in a few months). They do not have social security numbers yet as they have not worked in the US. Thank you for your responses.

[Texas Roger · Accepted solution]

First of all, they must have a social security number or individual taxpayer identification number to be claimed on a tax return. In addition, they need to meet the following requirements:

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.

2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household. 

3. The person's gross  taxable income for the year must be less than $4,050 in 2016.

4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

5. The person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

Generally you are not required to claim someone on a tax return even if the could be claimed. I don't know what bearing, if any, your sponsorship for a green card application would have.