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My mother receives social security benefits and receives extra for under age child. Will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself if i claim her?

My mother receives social security benefits and she also receives extra benefits because my sister is under age. If i claim both of them on my tax will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself? She receives a check every month and because of my sister she receives more. If i claim them both will it affect the check she receives? Or do i need to just claim my mother and not my sister?Thank you.

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4 Replies

My mother receives social security benefits and receives extra for under age child. Will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself if i claim her?

Does she also get SSI (Supplemental Security Income), which is needs based?

My mother receives social security benefits and receives extra for under age child. Will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself if i claim her?

yes she does

My mother receives social security benefits and receives extra for under age child. Will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself if i claim her?

Then she needs to talk to the SSA. The fact that you support her, whether you claim her or not, could impact those benefits.
Hal_Al
Level 15

My mother receives social security benefits and receives extra for under age child. Will my mother lose the benefits she gets for my sister and herself if i claim her?

No. Social security is an earned benefit and a person can be a dependent and still get SS benefits.

 SS benefits are considered the recipient’s income  If the money is spent on the recipient’s  support (as it usually is) it may affect whether you can claim her as a dependent.

 If the support test is met, you should , most likely, be able to claim both of them.  There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). Only a QC qualifies the taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit, the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each. The support test is slightly different for each type..

 A child closely related (sibling counts) to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:

1.                He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or  is totally & permanently disabled

2.                He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support

3.                He lived with the relative (including temporary absences) for more than half the year

4.                He is younger than the relative (not applicable for a disabled child)

5.                If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child (this essentially means that you have the parent’s permission to claim the child, if the child also lived with the parent more than half the year)

6.                If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any of the child's parents who can claim the child.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year

2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,050 (2016)

3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico

5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own

6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

 

Social security doesn't count as income, for the income test, but social security money he/she spends on her self does count as support not provided by you, for the support test. Money she puts into savings & investment does not count as support she spent on herself. Note that a parent is closely related so there is no requirement that she live with you at any time, during the year. But if you provided a home it helps your support case, unless they own the home you live in. If no one person (or married couple) provides 50% of the support (for example your siblings are also sending support), then a "multiple support agreement” (IRS Form 2120) can be used, to allow you to claim the dependent. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f2120.pdf

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf The support value of a home is the fair market rental value, divided by the number of occupants.

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