Should I claim my mom as my dependent in 2023 if she lived full-time with me and I was her full-time caregiver?

[mahdadz]

I have paid her expenses such as food, medical, etc. so in which case will my or her benefits be max? If she files separately, or if I claim her as my dependent. Please advise, thanks.

[Mike9241]

you can only claim her as a dependent if her gross income was less than $4700

certain income is excluded: tax-exempt income which includes certain social security benefits and if she is totally and permanently disabled income earned at a sheltered workshop operated by a tax-exempt organization or government agency that provides special instruction to alleviate the disability. to be excluded, the income must be incidental to medical care and must come solely from activities at the workshop

[mahdadz]

Thanks Mike. She has zero income in the US, and has some foreign income from Canadian benefits not sure if that counts as taxable or not. I am not sure if she is officially disabled, she has difficulty walking, she has a disability parking permit, nothing other than that. She hasn't participated in any workshops etc. Please advise if she is still my dependent or not.

[AnnetteB6 · Accepted solution]

The best way to know whether you can claim someone as your dependent is to go through the questions in TurboTax.  All of the qualifications are built in to the system in order to make that determination.  

If she did qualify as your dependent, she would be a Qualifying Relative.  Take a look at the following TurboTax help article for more details about what makes someone your Qualifying Relative.  The important points to note is her income for the year and whether you paid over half of her financial support.

Who can I claim as my dependent?

What does "financially support another person" mean?

@mahdadz 

[mahdadz]

Thanks Annette, I'll check.