Claiming dependents in 2020

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
December 26, 2020
8 replies
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TurboTax Online

DoninGA

Level 15

Dependents are entered in the My Info section located on the left side of the online program screen.

hameshatumkochahaAuthor

Level 4

My parents in law are Indian citizens.

My father-in-law has a resident / green card status & was with us in the USA for > 180days in 2020. He doesn't however have an SSN & won't apply for one (don't ask me why... huh).

My mother-in-law doesn't have her green card yet (so no SSN, of course with B2 visa status) but has an alien number (A-*) from her ongoing green card application. She stayed with us for the full year 2020.

Both have $0 income in the USA, both retired in India a few years ago & have less than $24k income in India.

During their USA stay; we paid for their food, insurance, medical, etc expenses.

For 2018, with the same statuses, my CPA didn't want me to claim my father-in-law. CPA didn't elaborate; possibly because of "no SSN". I moved to TT for 2019 & didn't claim my father-in-law.

Questions:

1. Can I claim my father-in-law without any IRS issues? Note no SSN for him.

2. Can I claim my mother-in-law without any IRS issues? Note no green card yet for her.

Thanks...

DoninGA

Level 15

@hameshatumkochaha If neither of your parents have a Social Security number or an ITIN issued by the IRS then you cannot claim them as a dependent on your tax return.

To claim a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules they must meet all the requirements under the rules.

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,300 (social security does not count) in 2020
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.