Tax Year Prior to 2020: Can i claim my girlfriends children as dependents?

[VictoriaD75]

Correct. Do not claim dependents that you cannot rightfully claim for child tax credit or as a dependent. In the event that a parent tries to claim them after another taxpayer, the return will be rejected by the IRS and both parties will have to provide information to determine who has the right to claim the dependents. It may also cause a situation where a taxpayer is disallowed to claim some credits for multiple years following an incorrect filing.

Be sure to use the rules carefully to determine whether or not they may be claimed. Publication 4012 has some easy to use and helpful flowcharts and information on this topic.

Rules for Claiming a Dependent

Publication 4012

[Ashambles]

The IRS has this handy interactive questionnaire that will walk you through it:

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

[KrisD15]

To claim a person as a dependent, they need to be your “Qualifying child” or “Qualifying Relative”.

A person can only be claimed by one taxpayer. If the person is claimed as a dependent, they can still file a tax return, but they must mark that someone else is claiming them.

Qualifying child

RELATIONSHIP: A qualifying child can be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.

AGE: The child must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), AND at the end of the tax year, your child must have been under age 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student). There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.

RESIDENCY: Your child must live with you for more than half the year. There are exceptions, such as being away at school, serving in the military, hospitalization and nursing home situations.

SUPPORT: Your child may not have provided more than half of their own support. Scholarships and grants are not considered as support provided by the student.

JOINT RETURN: Your child cannot file on a “Married Filing Jointly” return. (The exception is if they only file to claim a refund)

Are you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to children of divorced parents. Here you must use the “tie breaker rules,” which are found in IRS Publication 501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency requirements for claiming a child.

Parents might also file an agreement allowing the non-custodial parent to claim a child.

Qualifying relative

NOT A QUALIFYING CHILD: If this person can be claimed as the qualifying child by a different taxpayer, this person cannot be claimed as a Qualifying Relative.

RESIDENCY:  This person must live with you for the entire year, unless they are a “relative who does not live with you”. You can find a list in Publication 501. Your parent does not need to live with you if you support them.

GROSS INCOME: This person cannot have a gross income of more than $4,200 in 2019 and be claimed by you as a dependent.

SUPPORT:  You must have provided more than half of this person’s support for the year.

[tiptoe103]

I live with my fiance for for years i claimed two of her kids this year as well as last year i did provide all year 18 n 19 but i am not on her lease but i am on the school records is that enough for irs to qualify me they are my stepkids and i do take care of them???

[MaryK4]

They cannot be your qualifying children (see above) because they are not step-children unless and until you are married to the mother.  You can claim then as qualifying relatives if they meet the tests above in KrisD15's excellent answer.

@tiptoe103

[Mramirez]

Hi, please help.

I live in NC can i claim my 2 kids that live in Puerto Rico with there mother that does not work. We are not together but i pay all the bills where my kids live plus i pay child support. 

Second question.

Can i also claim my stepson that lives there i also pay everyting for him because hes like my son even though im no with the mother any more.

Note. It is the same mother of my 2 kids and stepson I support all of them 100% they dont live with me they live in PR.

[Hal_Al]

You may claim your children, including your step child, if the mother gives you permission on form 8332.  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8332.pdf

A stepchild is treated the same as a child for tax purposes.  The stepchild relationship, survives in case of a subsequent  divorce from the parent. 

 There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.

Note in particular that the non-custodial parent (you, in this case) can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the dependency to him. And, even if the custodial parent is also not claiming those items, because she doesn't work.

Ref: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170897

Scroll down to "Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart)"

[Texas Roger]

WKins2's answer is not totally correct. Someone who is not related to you must have lived with you the entire year for you to claim them as a dependent on your tax return. If you can claim them as a dependent, they would qualify for a $500 credit on your tax return. 

[Martina75]

once upon a time, this comment would be true. However, if audited by the IRS, which they’ve been getting everyone in recent years... Last year, this year, and if they haven’t yet, next year or the following. The tax law in claiming dependents only permits a tax payer to claim “qualifying” dependents that are related either by blood or by law. If audited (and they are on the prowl) they will remove the tax credits from the refund, deposit it, and send the filer a letter stating their adjustments and request documents to verify with proof that they can claim those dependents for tax credits. They will require proof

1. Residency - Child lived with tax payer for more than 6 months out of the filing year. Sharing same address, with verifiable proof of address. 
2.) The filer supported their dependents and paid for more than half of their support and household bills, upkeep, utilities food, etc... (paying child support does not qualify for this tax credit) But supposing documents are required. 
3.) Dependent must be related to tax filer. They can be a dependent which is biological child, step child, brother, sister half or step, or a decent of any. Or a OTHER qualifying dependent, which is: Child of filer, 18-24, must be a full time student and you pay more than half of their financial support. This OTHER qualifying dependent can reside away from home, at college etc. More on OTHER qualifying dependent, any age (18+) with disabilities. Also a parent or grandparent of filer, can be yours OTHER qualifying dependent. 
OTHER qualifying dependent can be claimed for up to $500 refundable tax credits. And allow your filing status to claim HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, as will the qualifying dependents, which can reduce your tax obligation by $2000, and $1,400 of those credits are refundable.

If audited the IRS requires legal documents for verification. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, of all parties in question. They expect to verify each name on birth certificates match the filer and all defendants to coin-sigh.  

- Prior to the new TCJA tax law that became law in Dec 2017. The individual tax credit was eliminated, which amended the ability for a filer to qualify for the individual credit of $4050 and to itemize their tax claims. This changed the dependent qualifications and other credits that filers were use to claiming. 
I and many people I know learned this the hard way, and the IRS has been closely monitoring exactly this. A lot of people are waiting on their refunds this year, for reasons such as this. There are many filers from last year, who had the same issue. And they IRS has a huge web page or EITC and dependent claims, audits, and software they’re using in order to catch these errors. This will be on their radar until 2025 (or 2026, I can’t remember) when the tax law returns to its previous form. 
Hope this answers your question. Thanks 

[Martina75]

Once upon a time, this comment would have been some what true. However, if audited by the IRS, which they’ve been getting everyone in recent years... Last year, this year, and if they haven’t yet, next year or the following. The tax law in claiming dependents only permits a tax payer to claim “qualifying” dependents that are related either by blood or by law. If audited (and they are on the prowl) they will remove the tax credits from the refund, deposit it, and send the filer a letter stating their adjustments and request documents to verify with proof that they can claim those dependents for tax credits. They will require proof

1. Residency - Child lived with tax payer for more than 6 months out of the filing year. Sharing same address, with verifiable proof of address. 
2.) The filer supported their dependents and paid for more than half of their support and household bills, upkeep, utilities food, etc... (paying child support does not qualify for this tax credit) But supposing documents are required. 
3.) Dependent must be related to tax filer. They can be a dependent which is biological child, step child, brother, sister half or step, or a decent of any. Or a OTHER qualifying dependent, which is: Child of filer, 18-24, must be a full time student and you pay more than half of their financial support. This OTHER qualifying dependent can reside away from home, at college etc. More on OTHER qualifying dependent, any age (18+) with disabilities. Also a parent or grandparent of filer, can be yours OTHER qualifying dependent. 
OTHER qualifying dependent can be claimed for up to $500 refundable tax credits. And allow your filing status to claim HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, as will the qualifying dependents, which can reduce your tax obligation by $2000, and $1,400 of those credits are refundable.

If audited the IRS requires legal documents for verification. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, of all parties in question. They expect to verify each name on birth certificates match the filer and all defendants to coin-sigh.  

- Prior to the new TCJA tax law that became law in Dec 2017. The individual tax credit was eliminated, which amended the ability for a filer to qualify for the individual credit of $4050 and to itemize their tax claims. This changed the dependent qualifications and other credits that filers were use to claiming. 
I and many people I know learned this the hard way, and the IRS has been closely monitoring exactly this. A lot of people are waiting on their refunds this year, for reasons such as this. There are many filers from last year, who had the same issue. And they IRS has a huge web page or EITC and dependent claims, audits, and software they’re using in order to catch these errors. This will be on their radar until 2025 (or 2026, I can’t remember) when the tax law returns to its previous form. 
Hope this answers your question. Thanks 

[Martina75]

If audited by the IRS (which they’ve been getting everyone in recent years...) Last year, this year, and if they haven’t yet, next year or the following. The tax law in claiming dependents only permits a tax payer to claim “qualifying” dependents that are related either by blood or by law. If audited (and they are on the prowl) they will remove the tax credits from the refund, deposit it the balance, if any, then send the tax filer a letter stating their adjustments and request documents to verify with proof that they can claim those dependents for tax credits. They will require proof

1. Residency - Child lived with tax payer for more than 6 months out of the filing year. Sharing same address, with verifiable proof of address. 
2.) The filer supported their dependents and paid for more than half of their support and household bills, upkeep, utilities food, etc... (paying child support does not qualify for this tax credit) But supposing documents are required. 
3.) Dependent must be related to tax filer. They can be a dependent which is biological child, step child, brother, sister half or step, or a decent of any. Or a OTHER qualifying dependent, which is: Child of filer, 18-24, must be a full time student and you pay more than half of their financial support. This OTHER qualifying dependent can reside away from home, at college etc. More on OTHER qualifying dependent, any age (18+) with disabilities. Also a parent or grandparent of filer, can be yours OTHER qualifying dependent. 
OTHER qualifying dependent can be claimed for up to $500 refundable tax credits. And allow your filing status to claim HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD, as will the qualifying dependents, which can reduce your tax obligation by $2000, and $1,400 of those credits are refundable.

If audited, the IRS requires legal documents for verification. Birth certificates, marriage certificates, of all parties in question. They expect to verify each name on birth certificates match to the filers name and all dependents to coin-sigh. Once they receive and verify the documents, if they show true to your claim they will release the held refund as it was filed, or respond again by mail letting you know why they concluded otherwise. They may also add penalties, and may also restrict you from claiming the EITC for up to 10 years, or fewer, depending. 

- Prior to the new TCJA tax law that became law in Dec 2017. The individual tax credit was eliminated, which amended the ability for a filer to qualify for the individual credit of $4050 and to itemize their tax claims. This changed the dependent qualifications and other credits that filers were use to claiming. 
I and many people I know learned this the hard way, and the IRS has been closely monitoring exactly this. A lot of people are waiting on their refunds this year, for reasons such as this. There are many filers from last year, who had the same issue. And they IRS has a huge web page or EITC and dependent claims, audits, and software they’re using in order to catch these errors. This will be on their radar until 2025 (or 2026 whatever year it says i forget, when the tax law returns to its previous form. 
Hope this answers your question. Thanks 

[Kdea89]

My children and I moved in with my boyfriend Nov. 2016 He’s been supporting us since. 2017 he was able to claim us with no issue. 2018 i worked a few months and claimed them but for 2019 i worked two months and he worked all year so he claimed them since he had the higher income. Now they’re saying he can’t claim them because they’re not his kids and that he owes the IRS 12000.00 I need help understanding this. No other party can claim them it’s always been me until I’ve met my boyfriend. We never moved out. We’ve been here for 4 years and we use the same address. They asked for school documentations verifying the address, i received govt benefits at the time so i provided that which also shows our address but they said it’s not verifiable. 

[TomD8]

@Kdea89 --  I suspect that your bf's problem isn't that he claimed the kids as dependents; it's that he mistakenly filed as Head of Household.  To file HOH, a taxpayer must have a qualifying child or dependent.  Your kids don't qualify him to file HOH because they're not related to him.  You can find a detailed explanation here:  

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/guide-to-filing-taxes-as-head-of-household/L4Nx6DYu9

[Hal_Al]

If they lived with him all year, he can claim them as dependents*. But he can only claim them as "other dependents", not as "qualifying child" dependents.  For 2019, that means they are each worth only the $500 other dependent credit.

What he can't claim, because they are not related (and therefore cannot be a "qualifying child") is the child tax credit (up to $2000 each) and the  child based Earned Income Credit (up to $6500 total) or Head of household filing status (bigger standard deduction and lower tax rates) .

*He cannot claim them, even as other dependents, if you, the custodial parent, had enough income to be required to file a tax return.

_____________________________________________________________________________

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

A person can still be a standard dependent ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't 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 the taxpayer ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,200
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

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 or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

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

The child may qualify as a dependent, but because he is not related, he cannot be a qualifying child for the earned income credit, child tax credit or Head of Household filing status.

[Dpelley10]

Most of the statement is true however the part of the children and head of house hold is not true you will still qualify for the EIC an head of house hold you do not need to be related They fall under the stepchildren category