One son claims mother as a dependent, other son wants to get chilld care credit for paying mother to babysit his children. Can both claim mother?

[stioffan]

My brother claims our mother as his dependent as she lives with him all year. Mom babysits my two children for me during the day. I pay her for helping me. Last year I paid her $3500. Her only other income is SSI. So there are two questions that I have after researching this situation:

1. Since what I paid her is under $4,050 earned income, Can my brother still claim her as a dependent and if so does he have to claim the $3500 that I paid mom as income on his tax return?

2. At the same time, can I claim the Child Care Credit with the $3500 that I paid my mother for watching my children?

[WillK · Accepted solution]

Your brother can still claim your mother as a dependent since her earned income is under the requirement. Your mother will need to file her own return to claim this income, but will need to indicate that she is claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.  

You will be able to claim the child care credit. You will need to out your mothers information into your return under the child care section. 

Hope this answers your questions. 

[stioffan]

Thanks for the answer. But I thought she doesn't need to file a return as long as her gross income is under a certain threshold (~$11,000)?

[WillK]

The income would be considered self-employment income and there are different thresholds with that. If she makes more than $400 of self-employment income she is required to file a tax return