I confirm that, in the My Info section, I indicated that, yes, someone else can claim me as a dependent on their tax return. I also confirm that, to the question "Did you support yourself in 2020?", I responded with "No, I didn't pay for more than half of my living expenses with earned income."
However, I also indicated that, no, this person will not claim me on their 2020 tax return. This is what I am reporting on my 2020 tax return and I did the same in 2019. Technically, my mother can claim me as a dependent, since I live in her apartment and I do not pay for more than half of my living costs using earned income. However, she will not do so and has never done so because her only source of income is SSI which not only makes it unnecessary for her to file taxes, but as far as I know, it even goes so far as to make it impossible for her to file.
Saying that I did not support myself implies that someone else supported me. I wonder if that is a technicality in and of itself. I did not pay for more than half of my living expenses with earned income, but my mother did not do so either. She did not pay for more than half of my living expenses with earned income, and she did not do so for her own living expenses either. All of the essential expenses in our household are paid for with the monthly checks that each of us individually get from SSI. Rent, electricity, auto insurance, groceries, internet, both of our phones, etc. Since she has no taxable income to report, she cannot file a tax return even if she wanted to, so am I perhaps making a mistake when I indicate that I can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return? She can't claim me as a dependent if she doesn't have a tax return, can she?
In my 2019 tax return, I indicated that someone can claim me as a dependent, but that I will not be claimed by anyone as a dependent. I'm doing the same in 2020, though now that I think about all this, I wonder if I am doing so mistakenly. Given all of these facts, can you confirm or deny any of my suspicions?
