head of household with parent receiving social security benefits?

Question

i would like to claim my mom as a dependent so that i can claim head of household, but she received social security benefits during 2006 that totaled $6,000 without any additional income. would i be able to claim her as a dependent since she received more than $3,200? i thought only $3,000 of the $6,000 is taxable therefore am i eligible? and subsequantly, if i am able to claim her as a dependent, would i need to file a tax return for her? specify on my tax return about her income? thanks in advance for all your help!!

Answer 1

If her only income is social security, none of it would be taxable, and she doesn't have to file a return. You would not show her social security benefits anywhere, on a return for her or on yours. It would not count toward the gross income test (the requirement that a dependent make less than $3300) for claiming her as a dependent. It would count, though, toward the support test - determining whether or not you provided more than half of her support. If you did, then you can claim her as a dependent and could claim head of household. Since she's your parent, there is no requirement that she lives with you.

Contrary to what someone else above said, each tax year is separate, so there is no requirement that if you claim her this year, you would have to (or even be able to) claim her in future years. Sometimes I wonder where people get some of the ideas that they say here.

Answer 2

Sometimes there's good advice here. Sometimes not. So far, batting zero!

OK, have a look at IRS Pub 501 for a complete explanation. In short, you can claim HoH if you can claim your parent as a dependent. Your parent does NOT need to live with you for either HoH or the dependency exemption.

You must pay more than half the cost of keeping a home that was the main home for your parent for the entire year. You must also provide more than half of their total support for the year. Their gross income must be less than $3,300 for the year. (Non-taxable Social Security does not count towards the gross income limit, however.)

If you meet all of those requirements you may claim your parent as a dependent AND file as HoH if you are otherwise eligible for that filing status.

She does not need to file a tax return if her only income was from tax-exempt Social Security. From what you have presented, she does not need to file a return.

You do not account for her SS income on your return. Ever. How her SS income is used may enter into the determination of the support tests but it is not listed on your return.

Answer 3

As you can see, tro guesses at her answers and cannot be trusted on any of them. You MUST get IRS publication 501 and fill out the support test for each of your parents. If it's the 3 of you, you will allocate 1/3rd of the cost of housing to each of you. You then add in all other documented expenses and then compare it to their income (including the entire SSA amount even if it's non-taxable!) and savings. If both of them paid for more than half of their own support, you cannot claim them as dependents and must file as single because you won't have a qualifying dependent. (All you need is one to claim HOH.) There was someone posting in the past day or so who kept hoping that her $1000 a month income was enough to claim both her son *and* her sibling getting $700 a month in SSI. Clearly with those numbers, she wasn't going to be able to prove she outspent the SSI money *and* supported herself.

Answer 4

If your mother's only income was social security, she deos not have to file a return. Social security benefits are not taxable unless other inome reaches a certain amount. If you claim her as a dependent, you will have to do the dependent worksheet that comes with the tax form to determine if you are elligilbe to do so. If you used any of her income to pay your expenses, you may have to declare that as miscellaneous income. There is a social security workseet and a dependent worksheet included with your tax forms.

Answer 5

wow...........
you have 2 issues..
if you start claiming your parents...you can not change your mind later..
this is now permanent....can't just toss it out like an sock..

so now your thinking long term?????
if your income changes..she could lose her benefits..and are you able to put her on an allowance????

and all these other sub issues.............
if she becomes ill and has to have....a nurse , say once a week, can you pay..and how much..

now as your income changes..you could also be held accountable for a repayment of previous social security payments...

(so i think you could end up paying that $200)
just as a this year thing
so as your income goes up.............you could end up..with what you think is a deduction......
and is it fair to your mother if you are not thinking of this $3000 as an allowance to her...but as a tax write off

when i was in your situation with my mother-in-law i just gave her $50 cash under the table every month... and a house to live in...(free)..

Answer 6

when you, call I.R.S, they should be able 2 give you the best answer that you seek.. it's what i would do : )