topic Re: Dependants in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Dependants

Kcarver — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 01:35:31 GMT

Hello.

Can my husband claim his 19 year old daughter as a dependent? She has worked this entire year and is a full time student. She moved out in July but up until then she lived with us. She has assistance (not from us) in paying for her rent, groceries, utilities, etc, at her apartment.

Re: Dependants

GeorgeDenseff — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 01:44:33 GMT

If you provided more than 50% of her support and her gross income for 2020 was less than $4,300.

Re: Dependants

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 01:56:21 GMT

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2020 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

They're related to you.
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.

They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

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're 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 (exceptions apply).
They made less than $4,300 in 2020.
You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

If she meets the criteria to be claimed as a dependent that also means that the education credits go on your tax return, since dependents cannot claim education credit. Dependents cannot get stimulus payments--so if you can claim her you get the EIP payments for claiming her. You might need to use the recovery rebate credit in the Federal Review section to do that.

@GeorgeDenseff If the qualifying child dependent is a full-time student then the $4300 of income does not come into play. The student can earn more than $4300.

Re: Dependants

GeorgeDenseff — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 02:00:14 GMT

Thanks for clarifying that for me
@xmasbaby0

Re: Dependants

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 02:03:49 GMT

@Kcarver One other thing---you said "my husband's daughter"----are you legally married to the girl's father? If so you claim her as a dependent on your JOINT return. If you file married filing separately you cannot get education credits.

Re: Dependants

VolvoGirl — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 02:10:52 GMT

And when did she turn 19?

Re: Dependants

Kcarver — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:00:33 GMT

We file separately, he's claimed her for the past couple of years.

Re: Dependants

Kcarver — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:00:48 GMT

Later this month

Re: Dependants

Hal_Al — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 11:49:07 GMT

@Kcarver said:

She is a full time student.
She moved out in July but up until then she lived with us.
She has assistance (not from us) in paying for her rent, groceries, utilities, etc, at her apartment.

Since she is a full time student, under 24, and lived with her father for more than half the year, she may qualify as a dependent under the qualifying child (QC) rules, instead of the qualifying relative rules. The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half her own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support. There is no income test for a QC.

Most "assistance" is considered third party support and not support provided by the student. Scholarships are ignored in the support calculation. But, if she worked all year, she may have provided more than half her own support.

As others have said, a parent is not allowed to claim the education credit if he files Married Filing separately. In your case, the student may be better off claiming herself.

Re: Dependants

Hal_Al — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 12:36:08 GMT

You may actually have a bigger tax question: is it better to file Married Filing separately (MFS) than Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)?

MFJ vs MFS

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separately/00/25590

If you choose married filing separately as your filing status, the following special rules apply. Because of these special rules, you will usually pay more tax on a separate return than if you used another filing status that you qualify for.

1. Your tax rate generally will be higher than it would be on a joint return.
2. Your exemption amount for figuring the alternative minimum tax will be half that allowed to a joint return filer.
3. You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care expenses in most cases, and the amount that you can exclude from income under an employer's dependent care assistance program is limited to $2,500 (instead of $5,000 if you filed a joint return). For more information about these expenses, the credit, and the exclusion see Pub 17, Chapter 32.
4. You cannot take the earned income credit.
5. You cannot take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses in most cases.
6. You cannot take the education credits (the American Opportunity credit and the lifetime learning credit), the deduction for student loan interest, or the tuition and fees deduction.
7. You cannot exclude any interest income from qualified U.S. savings bonds that you used for higher education expenses.
8. If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year:
a. You cannot claim the credit for the elderly or the disabled,
b. You will have to include in income more (up to 85%) of any social security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits you received, and
c. You cannot convert amounts from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
9. The following deductions and credits are reduced at income levels that are half those for a joint return:
a. The child tax credit,
b. The retirement savings contributions credit,
c. Itemized deductions, and
d. The deduction for personal exemptions.
10. Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of $3,000 if you filed a joint return).
11. If your spouse itemizes deductions, you cannot claim the standard deduction. If you can claim the standard deduction, your basic standard deduction is half the amount allowed on a joint return.

You may not be able to deduct all or part of your contributions to a traditional IRA if you or your spouse were covered by an employee retirement plan at work during the year. Your deduction is reduced or eliminated if your income is more than a certain amount. This amount is much lower for married individuals who file separately and lived together at any time during the year.

If you actively participated in a passive rental real estate activity that produced a loss, you generally can deduct the loss from your non-passive income, up to $25,000. This is called a special allowance. However, married persons filing separate returns who lived together at any time during the year cannot claim this special allowance. Married persons filing separate returns who lived apart at all times during the year are each allowed a $12,500 maximum special allowance for losses from passive real estate activities.

If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin and file separately, your income may be considered separate income or community income for income tax purposes. See Pub 555 Community Property - http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf The states of Tennessee and South Dakota have passed elective Community

Property Laws.