I'm trying to see if I can claim my parents as dependents as I am single and paying their expenses. Their main source of income is SS benefits and some interest/dividends (under $1000). Their gross income is under $4400 but this question in TT is a bit confusing "If your parent files a joint tax return solely to get a refund?" and when I click the "What does this mean?" it references refundable tax credit which my parents will not get. So my parents do not have any Fed taxes withheld via SS or bank/brokerage so would this mean I have to click "no" thus disqualifying? They typically file Jointly even though they know they don't even need to file since gross income is only less than $1000 (no including SS benefits)
If they were to file Married Filing Separately, their taxable income would be $0 still unless they flag "someone can claim me as a dependent" which is me. If they did flag yes they would have taxable income since they lose the benefit of standard deduction and SS is partially taxable income now.
