Can Green Card holder parent who lived outside US in 2019 be my dependent?

[fkhalilz]

My mother - who is a US Green Card holder - lived with my father in their own home outside of the US for the entire 2019. My mother and father are married to each other. I financially supported my mother during 2019. While my siblings (who live in the same country as my mother & father and are citizens of their own country) also supported my mother, no one else in the family claim my mother as a dependent. I am the only sibling in my family who is a US citizen/resident and file US taxes. My mother is a homemaker and has no income in the US or in her own country.  She has never filed US income taxes.  Is my mother - who is a Green Card holder - considered a US resident for tax purposes even though she lived the entire 2019 outside of the US? If so, can I claim her as a dependent? If so, how do I enter this into TurboTax Premier?

[DoninGA]

Since she was not a resident of the US, Canada or Mexico for some part of the year, you cannot claim her as a dependent on your tax return.  Additionally you would have had to provide Over one-half of her support.

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 $4,200 (social security does not count) in 2019
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.

[fkhalilz]

Aren't Green Card holders considered to be US residents even if they live outside of the US?

[DoninGA]

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@fkhalilz wrote:

Aren't Green Card holders considered to be US residents even if they live outside of the US?

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Correct...Yes they are.  My mistake.  So it depends on whether you provided over one-half of her support for the year.

Use this IRS support worksheet to determine your support - https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

[DoninGA]

Additionally, she must also have either a Social Security number or an ITIN issued by the IRS to be claimed as a dependent on a tax return.