In order to claim your mother-in-law as your dependent, she must meet all five of the following conditions:
-
Relationship: The person must live in your home for the entire year (be a
"member of your household") OR be related
to you (your mother-in-law counts)
- Gross Income:
your mother-in-law as a dependent, her earned income cannot be more than $4,050 for the 2016 tax year. This means that if your mother-in-law earns more than $4,050, you aren’t eligible to claim them as a dependent. However, non-taxable income, such as Social Security, does not count toward this amount.
- Support:
Generally, you must provide more than half the person's support. Special rules
apply for children of divorced or separated parents or children receiving
support from two or more people.
- Marital status:
Generally, a dependent cannot file a joint tax return with a spouse. The only
exception is when the dependent files a joint return only to get a return of
taxes paid and, if separate returns filed, neither dependent or spouse would
have a tax liability.
- Nationality:
The person must be a United States citizen; or a resident or national of the
U.S., Canada or Mexico. An adopted child that is not a US citizen or resident
of the US, Canada, or Mexico must live with you for the entire year.
Individuals related
to you in the following way do not need to live with you:
- Your son-in-law,
daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or
sister-in-law
If the above
conditions apply to your situation, in TurboTax, then you will need to go to Personal Info, Click Add a dependent, then Parent. Please see the attached photo.
