Qualifying Surviving Spouse

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
January 8, 2024
2 replies
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I’m working early on my taxes to just get a rough estimate where I stand for the 2023 tax year.

Used Turbo tax last year and worked out very well. This year it has gotten a little more complicated. I’m trying to see if I’m a Qualifying Surviving spouse. I lost my spouse in March 2022 and I was able to do Married filing jointly for 2022 Tax Year.

I have a daughter and two grand-children that is living in my house for all of 2023 and no doubt furnishing well over half of their living expenses. I used Turbo Tax to answer the questions for Qualifying Surviving spouse.

Turbo-Tax says I can’t claim her as a dependent as she makes more than $4700/year and also it will mess-up my daughter’s tax refund.

But it says I may qualify for other deductions. If I answer yes to below conditions then I am a Qualifying Surviving Spouse. The first two conditions are no doubt true. But the 3rd I’m puzzled what it is asking. I could have filed as Joint the year my spouse passed and the answer is Yes I did file as joint.

So I answer this question as YES?

I’m under the assumption that I must have a dependent to be a Qualifying Surviving Spouse

Is this a bug in the software?

Thanks for your input.

Critter-3

Level 15

You are a Qualifying Surviving Spouse (formally called qualifying widower) if you could or did file a joint return in the year of death and you have a qualifying dependent in the 2 tax years following death. After those 2 tax years you may be Head of Household as long as you still have a qualifying dependent.

If she is going to claim her own children then you will not have any qualifying dependents so stop and remove anyone you may have listed as the parent always has the superior right to claim their children even if you provide more than 1/2 of their support.

It all depends upon the facts and circumstances. A dependent must meet the requirements of a qualifying child or a qualifying relative in order for you to claim them on your tax return.

The tests for a qualifying child are:

Relationship: Must be your child, adopted child, foster child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these (grand or nephew).
Residence: Must have the same residence for more than half the year.
Age: Must be under age 19 or under 24 and a full-time student for at least 5 months. They can be any age if they are totally and permanently disabled.
Support: The dependent must not have provided more than half of their own support during the year.
Joint Support: The child cannot file a joint return for the year.

The tests for a qualifying relative are:

Qualifying Child: They are not the “qualifying child” of another taxpayer or your “qualifying child.”
Gross Income: The dependent being claimed earns less than $4,400 in 2022.
Total Support: You provide more than half of the total support for the year.
Member of Household or Relationship: The person (a friend, girlfriend, non-blood relative) must live with you all year as a member of your household or be related to you.

TurboTax software will ask you simple questions and give you the tax deductions and credits for which you are eligible based upon your answers.

See also these TurboTax Helps.

Who Can I Claim as a Tax Dependent?

Can I claim my relative or friend as my dependent?

You may also want to view IRS Publication 501.

Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

rjs

Level 15

It's not a bug. You can file as Qualifying Surviving Spouse if you have a child (not a grandchild) whom you could claim as a dependent except for the fact that her income was $4,700 or more. Since your daughter's income is the only thing that prevents you from claiming her as a dependent, she does qualify you to file as Qualifying Surviving Spouse even though she is not your dependent.

On your Form 1040 your daughter's name will be entered on the line below your filing status where it says "enter the child's name if the qualifying person is a child but not your dependent."

mlbrownAuthor

Level 2

From what your are saying, then she will not be a dependent because she makes more than $4700 but she will be a qualifying child that makes me a Qualifying surviving spouse?

As posted by Critter3 next to your post my qualifying child must meet the age requirement less than 19.

She is 47 years old. Does that stop it as qualifying child?

I'm still so confused.

rjs

Level 15

She is not a qualifying child. She is a qualifying person to qualify you to file as Qualifying Surviving Spouse. A qualifying child and a qualifying person are not the same thing.

There are two types of dependents, called qualifying child and qualifying relative. Your daughter cannot be a qualifying child (of you or anyone else) because of her age. There is no age restriction for a qualifying relative, but there is an income restriction. Your daughter meets all the requirements to be your qualifying relative except that her income is more than $4,700. But there is a special rule that the income limit does not apply to a qualifying person for Qualifying Surviving Spouse filing status, as long as she meets all the other requirements to be a qualifying relative. So you cannot claim her as a dependent because of her income, but you can use her as a qualifying person for Qualifying Surviving Spouse filing status.