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Possibly.
Your son-in-law can be your dependent if all the following are true:
1. No one else can claim him as a dependent.
2. He does not file a joint tax return with his spouse, or if they file a joint return, they owe no tax and they don't claim any deductions, dependents, or credits except for a refund of withholding. If his spouse (your daughter) has income and files a return, she has to file as married filing separately.
3. He lived in your home the entire 365 days of the year.
4. His taxable income is less than $4150.
5. You provided more than half his support.
You do not say where your daughter lived. If she also lived with you, you may have trouble with #2 and #5. It is almost always better for spouses to file a joint return, and that would override everything else.
For your grandchild, the following must be true:
1. He lived in your home more than half the year,
2. He did not provide more than half of his own support,
3. No other taxpayer can claim him, OR a parent could claim him but they agree to let you claim him instead and your income is higher than the parent.
Your son in law or daughter are taxpayers if they have less than $12,000 of income, and file no tax return or file a return only to claim a return of withholding and claim no other credits, deductions or dependents. If your daughter is a taxpayer and could claim her child, she gets first choice but can allow you to claim the child if your income is higher than hers.
Possibly.
Your son-in-law can be your dependent if all the following are true:
1. No one else can claim him as a dependent.
2. He does not file a joint tax return with his spouse, or if they file a joint return, they owe no tax and they don't claim any deductions, dependents, or credits except for a refund of withholding. If his spouse (your daughter) has income and files a return, she has to file as married filing separately.
3. He lived in your home the entire 365 days of the year.
4. His taxable income is less than $4150.
5. You provided more than half his support.
You do not say where your daughter lived. If she also lived with you, you may have trouble with #2 and #5. It is almost always better for spouses to file a joint return, and that would override everything else.
For your grandchild, the following must be true:
1. He lived in your home more than half the year,
2. He did not provide more than half of his own support,
3. No other taxpayer can claim him, OR a parent could claim him but they agree to let you claim him instead and your income is higher than the parent.
Your son in law or daughter are taxpayers if they have less than $12,000 of income, and file no tax return or file a return only to claim a return of withholding and claim no other credits, deductions or dependents. If your daughter is a taxpayer and could claim her child, she gets first choice but can allow you to claim the child if your income is higher than hers.
Yes, you may claim your grandchild, as a qualifying child dependent. If he is under 17, you get the child tax credit. You can do so because he is related to you, lives with your and his parents aren't claiming him.
As to whether you can claim your daughter and son-in-law (SIL), that depends on the support test. Your daughter and SIL are both considered related, so the support test is the same for both of them.
You must have provided more than half the support for each of them*.
Nontaxable Social security and SSI doesn't count as income, for the income test, but social security money he/she spends on her self does count as support not provided by you, for the support test. Money she puts into savings & investment does not count as support she spent on herself. Note that a child/in law is closely related so there is no requirement that she live with you at any time, during the year. But if you provided a home it helps your support case.
The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf The support value of a home is the fair market rental value, divided by the number of occupants.
*If your daughter and SIL are totally and permanently disabled, the support test is technically different, but effectively is still the same. The dependent must not have provided more than half his own support (rather than you must have provided more than half his support)
You can claim them as dependents but they will no longer receive the old dependent deduction, which was done away with under the new tax law. You may instead receive a small credit for your SIL and child related credits for your grandchild.
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