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Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

My mom went to school this past year and did not have a job. I took care of my brother and sister all year long supported them and fed them as well as my mother so she could get through school. I was wanting to know if i can claim HOH and claim my brother and sister on my taxes since I supported them all year long. 

Also I got married in October and moved out but I have still been the one supporting them all year even though I moved out recently. 

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8 Replies

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

Let us start with the elephant in the room ... you got married. So your options are married filing jointly or married filing separately ... HOH is no longer an option.

Next, yes you can claim your mom & siblings if they are qualifying dependents ...see the rules below and follow the interview carefully in the TT program ... it will walk you thru all these rules automatically ...


There are two types of dependents--qualifying child and qualifying relative. There is no specific income limit for a qualifying child dependent for you to claim them. Here are the requirements:

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

7. The child must be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) unless disabled.

If the person doesn't meet the qualifying child requirements, then there is an income limit to be claimed as 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. (and must not be in violation of local law)

3. The person's gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,050 in 2016.

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, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.


Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

Did Mom have any scholarships or grants, unemployment comp, etc.? Where is Dad? Who pays for housing? Just feeding everyone isn't enough.

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

My mom got her school paid for through a work school program and there dad is permanently disabled due to multiple sclerosis. His disability check paid the rent but as for everything else I supported them.
Hal_Al
Level 15

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

@SweetieJean - support is not an issue if the children are Qualifying child relatives, rather than qualifying relatives

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

I was actually asking to see if Mom's income was higher.

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

@Hal_Al  You may remember a rather spirited discussion on this board a few years ago on a similar question. The parents were on public assistance, but the oldest child had a nominal income from an after school job. That child was able to claim the siblings, although I find it hard to understand that this was the intent of the tax code.

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

Now here is the interesting thing ... even if the kids don't qualify as dependents ... if the parents don't file and don't claim the kids then the older sibling can claim the EIC for the children even if they don't claim them as dependents.
Hal_Al
Level 15

Ive lived with my mom all year but i supported my siblings and her because she was going to school. Can i claim my siblings on my taxes since i supported them all year?

Yes, you can claim each of  your siblings, as a qualifying child, in 2017, because you lived with them for more than half the year. In addition to the rules already listed, by Critter#2, there's one more: Your income must be larger than your mother's. Since you will (most likely) be filing as Married Filing Jointly, "your income" includes your spouses income.

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