Can I avail a tax benefit on rent I pay for the house I don't live in and is in a different city?

kalpanab91 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 02:19:30 GMT

I am living in city-A and my parents live in a different city-B and they owns the house they live in. I generally transfer the money to my parents every month can I show this as rent and avail some tax benefits after making a rent agreement for that house in city-B? I don't pay any rent here in the city-A in which I live in currently.

Rent paid is a personal living expense and is not tax ded...

MichaelMc — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 02:19:32 GMT

Rent paid is a personal living expense and is not tax deductible.

If I correctly understand your question, it appears that you are sending money to your parents each month to pay their mortgage or assist with other living expenses. If this is correct, depending on whether the amount you send to them is more than half of their total support, you may be able to claim your parents as dependents on your tax return.

A parent does not have to live with you in your household to be a dependent. The following conditions apply to each parent separately:

Did they each make less than $4,050 in 2016? Your relative cannot have a gross income of more than $4,050 in 2016 and be claimed by you as a dependent.
Do you financially support them? You must provide more than half of your relative’s total support each year.
Are you the only person claiming them? This means you can’t claim the same person twice, once as a qualifying relative and again as a qualifying child. It also means you can’t claim a relative—say a cousin—if someone else, such as his parents, also claim him.
Is the relative is a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, a resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico?

For more information on claiming dependents, please see IRS Pub. 501 Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

topic Can I avail a tax benefit on rent I pay for the house I don't live in and is in a different city? in Investors & landlords

Can I avail a tax benefit on rent I pay for the house I don't live in and is in a different city?

Rent paid is a personal living expense and is not tax ded...