My girlfriend and I live together the entire year. She has two children, and I provide more than half of their support. Also, my girlfriend receives government benefits (food stamps), but does not include my income...will claiming the children as my dependents affect her benefits going forward?
how do I claim dependents that are not my children if they qualify under the seven steps?
Enter the child at personal info / dependents. For dependent type, select "another person" then "other"
I did this, however, it did not change give me "extra dependents". I have taken care of these two people for three years.
You can claim her child or children only if absolutely you all know no one else will claim them food stamps has nothing to do with your taxes completely different government agencies hra is hra and irs is irs however you will need some sort of documentation with all of you guys name dob and address on it to prove residency a school or Doctor letter are most sufficient in these cases or a lease with you as head of household
And we wonder why refunds are being held until the end of February? Why doesn't she claim your income on her welfare?... she would be cut off! FRAUD!!!!!!
If you live with someone and get food stamps you are not required to put there income down. It is not your boyfriend or girlfriends job to support kids there are not there's that is why defax does not require you to put there income down. Now if you have a kid in the house defax does require you to give your income. I should know this I do the paper work all day for needy families.
Wouldn't the boyfriend be committing tax fraud by claiming children that he didn't support, the government supported them. If he was living there AND supporting them he could claim them but he would also need to be put on the welfare case and his income reported.
summer_lps you are INCORRECT... She doesn't have to report his income for MEDICAL ONLY!! But most certainly does for FOOD AND ANYTHING ELSE she's receiving from the assistance office! If she lived with roommates or her mother or her uncle, cousin, brother, COMPLETE STRANGER SHE MUST REPORT THEIR INCOME FOR FOOD, CASH, AND ALL THE OTHERS!!! AGAIN THIS IS FRAUD FRAUD FRAUD AND she'll go to jail when she's reported
If you are receiving SNAP (food stamps and medical) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO INCLUDE HIS INCOME AS LONG AS YOU GUYS BUY SEPERATE FOOD AND COOK SEPARATELY. It is not fraud and if any of you have been on it you would know that. Maybe different states do things differently but in the state of minnesota this is how it works as long as you buy and eat separately from WHOEVER YOU LIVE WITH your fine.
The children may qualify as dependents, but because they are not related, her children cannot be your qualifying child for the child tax credit, earned income credit or Head of Household filing status.
A person can still be an other dependent (Qualifying relative in IRS parlance, even though they do not have to actually be related), if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:
1. Closely Related OR live with you ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $3,900 (2013)
3. You must have provided more than 1/2 his support
Whether a qualifying child or qualifying relative:
4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer
He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)
In addition to the above requirements, to
claim your boy/girlfriend's children, they must meet all of the above
requirements and:
--- your boy/girlfriend must not be required
to file a return,
--- he/she does not file a return claiming the
children
Whether it affects their benefits would have to be answered by the agency providing the benefits.
If your GF receives food stamps and you claim her or her children as dependents, she will likely be removed from the program and forced to pay back the food $ she received. This is because she failed to include you in the household size that public assistance requires she tell them about.
What if I already told the h&w I'm staying w a friend and prepare my food separate. It's been like this for 3 years ( boyfriend in reality ) and he try's to claim my child in taxes because he supports half of everything and I don't work . I also get child support from my son father but it's rarely ,he's never been caught up on it . And I have all the rights to claim him in taxes ( court papers) ... How would that work out ????
if the food stamp program knows he lives in the house and you have lived together for the entire 12 months with the kids and he has provided all other support 50% or more then legally he can claim you and the kids with no legal ramifications to him for filing and claiming or you because welfare knows he lives in the house.
Yes if your girlfriend does not have to file a return because she earned less than 3900.00 in earned income and she is the sole physical custody parent of the children and their father does not have a court order saying he can claim them, provided she and the children lived with you the entire 12 months of the year and you provided 50% or more of the support for them you can absolutely claim them!! All of them even the girlfriend and it wont hurt her food stamps so long as she informed them you live in the house, if your not married in California anyway they dont count your income provided she buys and prepares food for her and the kids separate, now if she didnt tell them you were in the house then she could be in big trouble. She can report you living in the home and not lose her food stamps as long as she buys and prepares food for her and the children separate. You can still claim all 3 of them though and nothing legally will affect you or your tax situation.
Yes you can legally claim her kids. Yes it could cause her benefits to cease. She could also be charged with fraud, imprisoned and fined (up to $25,000). The question is one you must ask yourself, "Is the money worth the risk."
that's absolutely not true! after my separation from my ex-husband, i attempted to apply for SNAP and had to even give my 18 year old son's income info. i even received a visit to make sure my ex-husband was no longer living here since not all of our paperwork was finalized and he hadn't changed his address on everything yet!
Unfortunately, this is not a tax-related question. The determination as to food stamp benefits and qualifications should be left up to the State and or County where you live.
Before casting stones, you might want to be certain that your facts are correct. This woman is not required to report her boyfriend’s income for food stamps or other benefits (welfare as you call it.) If they were married, it would be different & both incomes would be required to determine the household’s eligibility. Obviously in this case, they are not married so the boyfriend has no legal obligation to support those children (even if he chooses to because he is a decent human being.) Therefore it is not certain & legally unknown whether or not he will continue to contribute his income to benefit the girlfriend & her kids because he could decide at any point to simply stop supporting them. Or they could break up much easier than a husband & wife (& are more likely to than a married couple) so the government can not require this woman to claim income that is not legally hers or under her control that she may or may not continue to receive. Since they’re not married, the girlfriend has no provisions under the law to ensure she would continue receiving that income the way a married woman could be entitled to post-separation support should her husband decide to leave.
Next time, before becoming so sanctimonious & deciding to judge and condescend someone, you may want to have your facts straight first so you don’t look like such an [removed]; because you do along with everyone else here squawking that this woman is committing welfare fraud. She is not, and you all need to recognize and remember that every single one of you is just one mistake or cataclysmic event away from being in this woman’s shoes and having to depend on government benefits yourselves to survive & feed your family. In that event, imagine how you’d hope others would treat you and extend that same consideration to people currently on benefits instead of casting judgment and looking down on them.
a little off topic, but if my girlfriend and her kids live with me and I support them. Can I claim one of her children? she will claim the other two.
In order to claim someone who is not related to you by blood or marriage as a dependent, certain criteria must be met. One of those criteria is that the child must not be eligible to be a qualifying child of any other taxpayer. Therefore, if the child is eligible to be claimed as your girlfriend's dependent, you cannot claim him/her. Only your girlfriend can take the dependency exemption.
@mikeymike - Even if they qualified as your dependent, you would not be allowed the Earned Income credit (EIC) or Child tax credit, because they are not related. So, your girl friend is better off claiming all 3, for the additional EIC and maybe some more CTC