Here are the rules that determine whether you can claim a relative:
Under the qualifying relative rules:
- Not
qualify as somebody else’s qualifying child or qualifying relative
- Live
with you the entire year (365 days) or be one of these:
- Your
child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them
- Your
brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister or
a descendant of any of them
- Your
father, mother, grandparent, or stepparent, but not a foster parent
- Your
son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law,
brother-in-law, or sister-in-law
- Your
uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece
- Earn
less than $4,050
- Receive
more than half of his or her support for the year from you
To claim a dependent, these must also be true:
- He or
she can only have filed jointly with his or her spouse to claim a refund
of the taxes withheld. Also, if he or she were to have filed separately
from his or her spouse, neither would have owed taxes.
- The
dependent is one of these:
- U.S.
citizen
- U.S.
resident alien
- U.S.
national
- Resident
of Canada or Mexico
You can’t qualify as a dependent on someone else’s
return. This is true even if the other person doesn’t claim you on his or her
return.
