Need advice on taxes?

Question

Ok folks here my dilema, last year I claimed head of household because my parents no longer work(receive SSI) but this year my older sister wants to claim H of H and claim me, my brother and sister this year(done at H&R). Last year I made more, but this year she made more than me andmy sister and wants to claim all three of us. Can she do this this year or no? Has anybody done something similiar?

P.S. I didn't get audited by the IRS if anybody is wondering, the guy their at H&R said that this is Ok'd by the IRS.

Answer 1

To be a dependent a person must be either a "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative".

Your sister can only claim you as a "qualifying child" if all of the following are true:

1) You are under age 19, or under 24 and a full-time student
2) You didn't provide more than half of your own support
3) You lived with her for more than half of the year.

If she can't claim you as a qualifying child, then she might be able to claim you as a qualifying relative if ALL of the following are true:
1) your gross income was less than $3300
2) she provided over half of your support for the year

If you are not a qualifying child or qualifying relative as defined above, then she can't claim you. If you or your siblings meet these requirements, then she can claim you, and if at least one of you meets the requirements AND that person lived with her for more than half the year AND she paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home, then she could file as head of household.

If you or one of your siblings is 19 or older, not a full-time student, and made over $3300 gross income for the year, then she can't claim that person.

By the way, last year if you provided more than half of your parents' support, OR if you and some others did in total, you paid at least 10%, and you had a signed multiple support agreement from everyone else who paid at least 10% of their support, then you were allowed to claim them and claim head of household. If not, no matter what an H&R person said, you were not able to claim them legally. Getting audited, or getting deductions disallowed, can take a lot longer than a year for them to get to you, so if you were not allowed legally to claim them, you're not off the hook just because they haven't gotten you yet.