Claiming girlfriend and her kids as dependents but where she has some State financial support

[Neta160]

Hi,

In 2018 my girlfriend and her two children lived me.  The State provided my girlfriend some cash and SNAP (food credits) that were a continuation from 2017 when they were not living with me.  The children's father provided no support.  I paid 100% of the cost of housing, transportation, utilities, and food...minus the portion funded by the State for her and her kids food.  She used the State's cash assistance for other things like clothing for her kids.  The State also provided medical insurance for her and her kids.

In January 2019, my girlfriend had our baby.  I put him on my medical insurance and I paid all other costs for him.   My question for my 2019 tax return is, Can I claim my girlfriend and her 2 daughters given that my girlfriend lives with me 100% of the time, doesn't work, but receives a little State cash and food credits that help her support herself and kids?  Her daughters live with me 5 days a week and I\we don't receive any financial assistance from her kids father.  There is no agreement between my girlfriend and her ex that he will claim them but he wants to.

Thank you in advance.

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

You may be able to claim your girlfriend and her children under the Qualifying Relative rules if they meet all the requirements.  You probably provided over one-half of their support, but to verify use this IRS worksheet for determining support - https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

You should be able to claim your Child under the Qualifying Child rules if he meets all the requirements.

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.

To be a Qualifying Child -

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 unless disabled.

[rjs]

It appears that you cannot claim your girlfriends daughters as dependents because they are not related to you and they did not live with you for the entire year, all 365 days. They only lived with you 5 days a week.

Since the daughters lived with your girlfriend more nights than with their father, your girlfriend is their custodial parent. The father cannot claim them as dependents unless your girlfriend gives him a signed Form 8332 giving him permission to claim them.

If your girlfriend files a tax return, she can claim her daughters. If she does not file a tax return, and does not give the Form 8332 to the father, no one can claim them.

If your girlfriend has no taxable income and is not filing a tax return, it seems like she might as well allow the father to claim her daughters. Neither she nor you loses anything. If she does that, she should sign Form 8332 for only one year at a time, because the situation could be different in future years.

[Neta160]

Based on my understanding of your response and the worksheet, I can claim them.  I will double check everything.  My test run using TT for 2018 said I could as well.  Thank you.

[DoninGA]

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@Neta160 wrote:

Based on my understanding of your response and the worksheet, I can claim them.  I will double check everything.  My test run using TT for 2018 said I could as well.  Thank you.

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The children of your girlfriend cannot be claimed as your dependents under the Qualifying Relative rules since they did not Live with you all year as a member of your household.

Go to IRS Publication 501 Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information for the Qualifying Relative rules - Member of Household or Relationship Test on page 18 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf#page=18