**Tax Year 2018 and Earlier** My mother's only income is social security and alimony. Does alimony count as gross income for purposes of claiming her as a dependent on my taxes?

[ltraversa]

In the past, I have been able to claim her as a qualifying person to make me eligible for head of household filing without actually claiming her as a dependent. This will be the first year filing our taxes myself - we've paid a preparer in the past. I'm trying to find out how to do this in TurboTax. Her alimony is $4800 for the year, so with social security, her total income is less than $16K. I pay all the household expenses, so I definitely meet the "more than half her support" criteria.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

FOR TAX YEAR 2018 AND PRIOR

Yes her alimony does count.  If she received more than $4150 of alimony you cannot claim her as a dependent.