Thanks for joining us today, GayleS03!
For US tax purposes, a dependent is someone "other than the taxpayer or spouse" who qualifies to be claimed by someone else on a tax return. They rely on another person for financial support. This includes children or other relatives. There are two types of dependents, each subject to different rules:
- Qualifying Child
- Qualifying Relative
The following questions must be answered to determine if you can claim your relative:
- Are they a citizen or resident? The person must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, U.S. resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
- Are you the only person claiming them as a dependent? You can't claim someone who is claimed as a dependent on another tax return. You also can't claim a person who states that they are not able to be claimed as a dependent on their own tax return (takes a personal exemption for himself). Finally, a dependent cannot claim another person as a dependent on their own tax form.
- Are they filing a joint return? You can't claim someone who's married and files a joint tax return.
For a parent to be claimed:
- Do they live with you? Your relative must live with you all year as a member of your household 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 $4,700 in 2023 ($5,050 for 2024)? Your relative can't have a gross income of more than $4,700 in 2023 and be claimed by you as a dependent. This threshold increases to $5,050 for 2024. Certain income is excluded from this requirement such as all or part of Social Security benefits.
- Do you financially support them? You must provide more than half of your relative's total support for the year.For more details click here: Rules for Claiming Dependents on Taxes
