How to treat foreign dependants that do not have SS# or Tax IDs?

[Bond007]

I'm a US citizen and send money (monthly) to support parents who are foreign nationals and reside abroad (they've never been to US). I've been supporting them for many years now but could not claim them as dependents as they do not have a social security number or ITIN number (appears to be a requirement to claim a dependent). I thought I'd ask the question to the forum this year to see if anything has changed or there was some other way to account for this support. Can I get any credit on my taxes for supporting them? Thank you.

[SusanY1]

You must have an ITIN or SSN for any dependent to list them on your tax return.  Qualifying dependents can apply for an ITIN when you file your tax return.  For your parents to be qualifying dependents, they would need to be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico and meet all of the other qualifications for a dependent, found at this link: Rules for claiming a dependent on your US tax return.

[Bond007]

Thank you for your reply! Yes - based on these rules I have been unable to claim them as dependents. I was wondering if there were other ways to get credit for these funds - like claiming as a charitable gift or some other way? The fact is that I'm supporting people and money is going out of my pocket - was wondering if any creative way in the tax law to account for it (maybe too detailed of a question to ask here). 

Thank you!

[LinaJ2020 · Accepted solution]

If you do not qualify to claim them as your dependents, there are no other tax benefits including deductions or credits you can claim on your tax return, unfortunately.   IRS does not allow you to treat it as a charitable contribution for the deduction. I am attaching a link to a post that might be helpful for you to understand.  Click here:  Support to overseas

Technically, your cash support is considered a gift.  For the year 2019, you as the donor who gave the gift, do not report any gift taxes unless it exceeds $15,000 per person. If it is more than $15,000 per person, you are required to file a Form 709 to report to the IRS. You would not be paying any taxes.  It is only for reporting purposes.   Per IRS, the estate and gift tax exemption is $11.4 million per individual in 2019, up from $11.18 million in 2018. That means an individual can leave $11.4 million to heirs and pay no federal estate or gift tax, while a married couple will be able to shield $22.8 million. As TurboTax does not support Form 709, you can download it from the IRS website and fill it out per the Form 709 instructions.