topic Can I claim my wife's sister on my taxes this year if she has lived with us for the passed 6 1/2 months and has not worked? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Can I claim my wife's sister on my taxes this year if she has lived with us for the passed 6 1/2 months and has not worked?

20hjigsaw — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:39:50 GMT

Did she have any 2017 income of any type?

SweetieJean — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:39:51 GMT

Did she have any 2017 income of any type?

I believe she lost her job 2 days into 2017 so if she doe...

20hjigsaw — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:39:53 GMT

I believe she lost her job 2 days into 2017 so if she does have an income it's very small! She lived with her mom and we helped here and there financially throughout the year, she recieved food stamps, and finally in june we moved her here with us. None of the rest of the year has she worked and no one else is claiming her as a dependent

Thank you so much for the help!

20hjigsaw — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:39:54 GMT

Thank you so much for the help!

Yes, as long as her income was less than $4050, for the y...

Hal_Al — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 18:39:56 GMT

Yes, as long as her income was less than $4050, for the year.

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 (a sister-in-law qualifies) OR live with the taxpayer ALL year

2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,050 (2016-17)

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

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

Food stamps don't count as income, for the income test, but does count as support not provided by you, for the support test.

If no one person (or married couple) provides 50% of the support (for example her mother supported her for part of the year), 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.