Can i claim my grand kids don't live with me

[mariia62]

can I claim my grand daughter's as my dependents they don't live with me but I financially support them if (yes) what do I put in the questions how many months they lived with me???

[Opus 17]

You can only claim your granddaughters who don't live with you as dependents if all of the following are true:

1. they have less than $4050 of taxable income

2. you paid more than half their total support

3. no other taxpayer can claim them as dependents. 

#3 is tricky because, if they live with a parent more than half the nights of the year, that parent has the automatic first claim on them as dependents.  And the parent is a taxpayer if they have more than $10,350 in taxable income for 2016, or if they have less income but file a tax return to claim any credits or benefits or dependents except for simple refund of their withholding.  If the parent is a taxpayer, then you can't claim them even if the parents agree to allow you.

If they live with other relatives, not parents, the same is generally true but if you want to provide more details we can review the rules for your specific situation.

[mariia62]

#1. They don't make any income                                                                                                                                                    #2.I did pay more than half of their support                                                                                                                       #3.No one else can claim them since they only live with my daughter and she din't made enough to file taxes.                                                                                                                                                            #My question now is the part when am filing here ask me how many months they live with me what do i put? since they lived with their mother the whole year?

[Opus 17]

Zero of course.  You should still qualify by following through the rest of the questions.  There are two type of dependents, "qualifying child" and "qualifying relative."  Since they didn't live with you, they can't be qualifying child dependents, but they can still be qualifying relatives.  The tax benefits of qualifying relative dependents are a bit different than qualifying children, and the interview will capture that.

[mariia62]

thank you!