Claiming parent on ssi

[brittanydye01]

Is SSI non-taxable and can I claim my parent if so?

[IreneS · Accepted solution]

UPDATED FOR TAX YEAR 2019

Social Security is not tax-exempt income per se.  SSI may be taxable, depending on his other income.

According to the IRS Regular & Disability Benefits  page, to find out whether any of your benefits may be taxable, compare the base amount for your filing status with the total of:

• One-half of your benefits; plus
• All of your other income, including tax-exempt interest.

The base amount for your filing status is:

• $25,000 if you're single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er),
• $25,000 if you're married filing separately and lived apart from your spouse for the entire year,
• $32,000 if you're married filing jointly,
• $0 if you're married filing separately and lived with your spouse at any time

So if your father is single, and his income + one-half of his Social Security total less than $25,000, his benefits are not taxable.

In  order to be considered a dependent as a "qualifying relative"  person must meet four tests:

1.  Not a qualifying child - Since he is your father, he is not your child. 

2.  Member of household or relationship test – Your father doesn't necessarily have to live with you, but it's OK if he does.

3.  Gross income test - To meet this test, a person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,200.  Gross income is all income in the form of money, property, and services that isn't exempt from tax. 

4. Support test - To meet this test, you generally must provide more than half of a person's total support during the calendar year.  You figure whether you have provided more than half of a person's total support by comparing the amount you contributed to that person's support with the entire amount of support that person received from all sources. This includes support the person provided from his or her own funds. 

I suspect that your father's gross income is $4,050 or more and that you don't provide more than half of his support. If so, he cannot be considered a "qualifying relative" and a dependent on your return.

[Edited | 4/8/2020 |  9:00am PDT]