If I claim my unemployed dad as my dependent will he loses SS benefits (through my mom) after my mom retires?

Question

My parents have been filing joint returns. My dad has been unemployed for over 10 years. I have been providing more than half of their living expenses as she is not making enough to support both of them. Can she file a tax return for herself and I claim him as a dependent and head of household (they are living with me)?

She plans to retire this year and will be qualified for SS benefit. Is it true that he can also acquire some SS $$ because she is eligable? If she files her own tax return, and he becomes my dependent, will that effect his SS $$ status? How about any impact to his government paid health care benefits, namely Medicare & Medical?

Answer 1

Social Security benefits from retirement are not affected by who cares for the person retired. My father was in the hospital for most of the last year and a half. Since Medicare was paying for the hospital, in effect the government was footing the bill for his upkeep. That didn't affect either his filing status or his SS benefits, which he earned through my mom, too, lol.

Yes, you can file as head of household with your father as a qualifying relative, provided he meets the tests for such. See the IRS Publication 501: Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information, or Tax Topic 354: Dependents, for more information.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

You cannot claim as a dependent someone who has filed a joint return with another taxpayer. The only exception to this is if each of them had less than $3,300 in wages and the only reason that a return was filed was to receive a refund of taxes withheld.

Once your mother retires and starts collecting SS you can claim them both as dependents if they each have less than $3,300 in gross income. Tax exempt SS does not count towards that $3,300 in gross income so if that's the only income they have you'll be eligible on that test. You must also provide more than half of their support. If you meet that test you can claim them as dependents AND file as HoH.

If your father is of retirement age (62 or older) he can file for SS benefits based upon the higher of his or your mother's earning record. SS will pay him the higher of the two amounts. He does NOT need to wait for your mother to retire; he can apply for reduced early retirement benefits at age 62.

Your claiming them as dependents will not have any impact on Medicare. They should each apply for Medicare about 3 months prior to their 65th birthdays. I don't know if your supporting them will have any affect on MediCal, you'll have to ask the MediCal authorities about that.

Answer 3

Sounds like you could claim him, as long as he doesn't file a joint return with your mother.

That would not affect his eligibility to collect social security. But once he does, you might or might not be able to still claim him, since he might then be providing over half of his own support.

Answer 4

Maybe you should ask the company.