Folks - I think there is a lot of misinformation on this thread.....
First, @MaryK4,note in @DoninGA post he correctly states that the person must be a US citizen, resident alien or nation OR a resident of Canada or Mexico. So you could be eligible if you were not a US citizen but lived in Mexico or Canada
here are the rules from Publication 4012, page C-3 though C-5 (they have a nice flow chart there) and match @DoninGA 's commentary
the general rules to be a Qualifying Relative are:
- person must be related to you, but don't have to live with you
- Gross income must be less than $4200 (excluding social security)
- Must provide at least 50% of the support of the parents.
Specific Rules:
- Can't be claimed on anyone else's tax return
- Can't be filing a married - joint return themselves
- Was a US citizen, resident alien or US national OR a resident of Canada or Mexico
The scenario I ran through the IRS help tool was a parent who was living in Mexico, had a ITIN, gross income under $4200, was a parent of a US taxpayer where the taxpayers were supporting the parents by more than 50%, did not live with the parents, and the parent was not filing a joint US tax return and was not being claimed by anyone else.
I also was able to easily add a parent as a qualifying relative in the desktop version of TT. So either there is a bug in the online version of TT or one of the questions is not being answered correctly
