Dependent Question

Forum|Forum|4 months ago
January 30, 2026
2 replies
17 views

My son is on SSDI. He pays us room and board each month at Fair Market Value.

Am I correct in saying he does not qualify as a dependent?

Vanessa A

Level 15

Clarification

How old is your son? If your son is an adult and lives with you but does pay you rent at FMV, then you are correct, he would not be your dependent because you are not providing over half of his support.

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AndrewA87Author

Level 5

He is an adult with autism. His SSDI/SSI pays his room and board at FMV.

Hal_Al

Level 15

Q.My son is on SSDI. He pays us room and board each month at Fair Market Value.

Am I correct in saying he does not qualify as a dependent?

A. Not necessarily. "Pays us room and board each month at Fair Market Value" does not show that he pays more than half his own support.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled (at any age)
He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

So, it doesn't matter how much income he has, . What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on himself.

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

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

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Return/INF12139.html

AndrewA87Author

Level 5

I wonder if this getting too complicated.

My son receives ssdi and ssi only. About $10,000.

We were having him file a return each year just to be on the safe side.

I do not claim him as a dependent and now I am wondering if he should even bother with filing a return at all.

DoninGA

Level 15

@AndrewA87 If the Social Security benefits he receives is his only income and there are no federal taxes withheld then there is no need for him to file a tax return.

Unless he also received a Form 1095-A for his health insurance through one of the State Marketplace Exchanges or from healthcare.gov then he must file a tax return.