Here are some helpful facts about claiming dependent I hope that you find them helpful.
A child who was born during the 2016 tax year
(by Dec 31st)
is considered to have lived with you for the entire year.
There are two types of dependents, each subject to different
rules:
- A qualifying
child
- A qualifying
relative
For both types of dependents, you’ll need to answer the
following questions to determine if you can claim them.
- Are
they a citizen or resident? The person must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S.
national, a U.S. resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. Many people
wonder if they can claim a foreign-exchange student who temporarily lives
with them. The answer is maybe, but only if they meet this requirement.
- Are
you the only person claiming them as a dependent? You can’t
claim someone who takes a personal exemption for himself or claims another
dependent on his own tax form.
- Are
they filing a joint return? You cannot claim someone who is married
and files a joint tax return. Say you support your married teenaged son:
If he files a joint return with his spouse, you can’t claim him as a
dependent.
Qualifying
Child
In addition to the qualifications above, to claim an exemption
for your child, you must be able to answer "yes" to all of the
following questions.
- Are
they related to you? The child can be your son, daughter, stepchild,
eligible foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister,
stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.
- Do
they meet the age requirement? Your child must be under age 19 or, if a
full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is
permanently and totally disabled.
- Do
they live with you? Your child must live with you for more than half the year,
but several exceptions apply.
- Do
you financially support them? Your child may have a job, but that job
cannot provide more than half of her support.
- Are
you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to
children of divorced parents. Here you must use the “tie breaker rules,”
which are found in IRS Publication
501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency
requirements for claiming a child.
Qualifying
Relative
Many people provide support to their aging parents. But
just because you mail your 78-year-old mother a check every once in a while
doesn’t mean you can claim her as a dependent. Here is a checklist for
determining whether your mom (or other relative) qualifies.
- Do
they live with you? Your relative must live at your residence all year or be
on the list of “relatives who do not live with you” in Publication 501.
About 30 types of relatives are on this list.
- Do
they make less than $4,000? Your relative cannot have a gross income
of more than $4,000 and be claimed by you as a dependent.
- Do
you financially support them? You must provide more than half of your
relative’s total support each year.
- Are
you the only person claiming them? This means you can’t claim the same person
twice, once as a qualifying relative and again as a qualifying child. It
also means you can’t claim a relative—say a cousin—if someone else, such
as his parents, also claim him.
We
Figure it Out For You
The deduction for qualified dependents is one of the best
tax benefits available. It can open the door to a large number of tax credits
and deductions that can lower your tax bill. TurboTax will ask you simple, plain-English questions about your
family and will determine for you who qualifies as a dependent on your tax return, so you
can be sure you’re getting the biggest refund you deserve.
Here is some information on claiming tuition.
The tuition deduction lowers your taxable income or tax liability.
Only the American Opportunity Tax Credit is "refundable" meaning it is the only credit that can be received as a refund.
If you received the "Tuition and Fees" deduction, you would see that on 1040 line 34 or 1040A line 19.
This deduction is subtracted from your income to generate a lower Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) number.
The
Lifetime Learning Credit could be worth up to $2,000, but it only
lowers your tax liability. Once your liability reaches zero, the credit
is used up. You would see this on 1040 line 50 or 1040A line 33.
