Dependent deduction for Daughter living with child on Government Aid

[casey5226]

My daughter receives assistance for her and her young child - food stamps, medicaid and partial housing from the government. As her father, I also provide her with funding for all that isn't covered. Can I claim her and her child for what I provide to supplement those government benefits?

[DaveF1006]

To clarify, do they live with you?

[casey5226]

Thanks for the response.

No they do not. (sorry I forgot that important element.)

[ThomasM125]

In general, you can only claim individuals as dependents if they live with you and you provide over half of their support, along with other qualifications. However, as pointed out by @NCperson,  there is an exception for a daughter and her children, so she may qualify even if she does not live with you. However, If they do not qualify as dependents, you will get no tax benefit from your assistance provided to them.

[Edited 4/7/26 at 6:00 PM PST]

@casey5226 

[NCperson]

@ThomasM125 ???????

there is no residency requirement for Qualified Relatives who are blood (excluding cousins).

The is only a residecy requirement for Qualified Children and Qualified Relatives who are not blood related or who are cousins. 

I am assuming the daughter is at least 19 years old and not in school.

@casey5226 

if your daugher's income is less than $5200 (2025) and you provide more than 50% of her financial support, she is your dependent.  There is no requirement that she lives with you.

Similarly, if your grandchild's income is less than $5200 (2025) and you provide more than 50% of her financial support, the grandchild is your dependent.  There is not requirement that the grandchild lives with you.  This is a little tricker since it presumes no one else can claim the grandchild as a Qualified Child. 

Best to simply run your scenario through the offical IRS tool. 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

[NCperson]

@ThomasM125 - the edit is still quite misleading, coming from TT expertize.

let me suggest: 

"in general, you could only claim them as dependents if each earned less than $5200 (2025) and you provided over half of their support, along with other qualifications."

there is no residency requirement for a Qualified Relative who is a child or grandchild. 

see the overview (right side) of Table 5 / page 12 ; residency requirements are not listed. Also see "Relatives that don't have to live with you" - page 19 and the list includes a child and any descendents

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf