Can i claim my dependent's rent, which i paid for all year long, while he lived with me, and had no earned income, therfore i provided all of his living expenses?

[JulieCo]

Rent is not a tax-deductible expense that can get entered on your tax return BUT you paying the rent can be a consideration in determining if you can claim an individual as a dependent of yours.  

One requirement to claim a dependent is that you must provide more than 50% of their support, which is the cost of basic life necessities such as food, lodging, clothing, medical and dental care, education, transportation, utilities, and so forth, so you paying the rent would be part of that support.

Here are the requirements in order to claim a qualifying adult on your return as a dependent:

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year.
• They made less than $4,050 in 2017.
• You provided more than half of their financial support. More info

When you add someone as a dependent, TurboTax will ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them.

[Sainttlf]

When asked if a dependent "made more than $4k", does that mean income? Does SSI and/or SSDI count

[AmyC]

1.The IRS is looking for taxable earned income.

2.The SSI and SSDI would count towards support on line 23 of the Worksheet for Determining Support. This gives you the answer to did you provide over half their support.

@Sainttlf

[SweetieJean]

Please clarify.  You asked about "claim my dependent's rent"

Do you mean he had a lease somewhere else that you continued to pay, even though he lived with you?

Or, did you live with him and pay the rent on that place?

[eglatzer]

He didnt live with me; he had an apartment that I paid for but he had less than $4000 income.  Can I claim him as a dependent or does he have to had lived with me.

[DianeW777]

Perhaps.  It depends on your relationship to the person you are paying the rent for. The link below will help you to see if you can claim this person as a dependent by meeting the requirements. 

• Who can I claim as a dependent?

If you are able to meet the qualifications, you will want to be sure the dependent states on their own return that they can be claimed by another person, to avoid any issues when you file your return.

@eglatzer