Can I claim my sister as a dependent? She's lived with me over 1/2 the year, received SSI the last 2 months, food stamps and medi-cal.

[kellyb96007]

My sister has lived with me for 7 months.  She received SSI as of October, I believe food stamps for about 4 months and she gets medi-cal.  I don't believe she included my income on any of her public assistance applications, so I don't know if I can claim her or not...

[Marketstar]

You may be able to claim your sister as a Qualifying Relative dependent if:

• You provided more than half of her support in 2016
• She earned less than $4,050 in gross taxable income. (Social Security income generally doesn’t count here.)
•  She lives with you 365 days in the year or is related to you.
•  She isn’t a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
• She isn’t filing a tax return with a spouse (married filing jointly).
• She  is a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident

You can’t claim a dependent if you are a dependent on someone else’s taxes

See Rules For Claiming Dependents

Your sister's food stamps and Medi-Cal is not included as taxable income.