My 64 yr old mother-in-law lives at home with us. We pay for all of her room and board. She gets a SS check for $870/mo. Can I claim her as a dependent?

[brandon43076]

also she purchased a rental property in August, which she had approx $15,000 in expenses to get it livable.  She collected $5600 in rent.

[Phillip1 · Accepted solution]

You can claim your mother-in-law as a dependent if all of the following requirements are met:

1. The must have live with you for the entire year or be one of the following relationships:

• our child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild). (A legally adopted child is considered your child.)
• Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
• Your father, mother, grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent.
• Your stepfather or stepmother.
• A son or daughter of your brother or sister.
• A son or daughter of your half brother or half sister.
• A brother or sister of your father or mother.
• Your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

They cannot have gross income of more than 4,050 dollars for 2016.

• For this test, tax-exempt income, such as certain social security benefits, isn't included in gross income.

You must have provided more that half of their support. As mentioned above, any of the disability income used for their support is counted as support provided by the adult dependent. See Worksheet 2 on page 16 of IRS Publication 501.